ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns

Preface | xv

User’s Guide

This book, at its core, is an introduction to a relatively advanced topic for writing

reusable OOP code for ActionScript 3.0. Like “jumbo shrimp,” an “elementary intro-

duction to an advanced topic” is an oxymoron. Advanced developers may want less

of the elementary and less senior developers may demand more preparatory

materials.

Because we cannot measure any reader’s level, we urge you to go through the Table of

Contents and flip through the chapters to find what you want. Find your level and

use the book at that level. For some, it will be an exercise of reading from cover to

cover, while for others it will be a reference work for looking up how ActionScript 3.

works with different features of design patterns. After all, it’s your book, and you

should use it to best suit your needs.

Flex 2 developers

We developed all the examples for this book using Flash CS3. So, if you’re looking to

use these examples for Flex 2, you’ll need to make the appropriate Flex adjustments.

In some cases, examples were developed using user-created movie clip classes in the

Flash CS3 IDE and stored in the Library panel. These cannot be employed directly

using Flex 2. So, if you’re using Flex 2, plan on some workarounds.

Flash Media Server 2 developers

We have a few examples that use Flash Media Server 2 (FMS2). The examples don’t

require anything more than the Developers Version of FMS2. The Developers Ver-

sion can be freely downloaded from the Adobe site athttp://www.adobe.com/devnet/

flashmediaserver/. Alternatively, you can skip the examples, or substitute some other

open socket technology.

Companion Tools You’ll Want

In an ideal world, those reading this book would have a solid background in object

oriented programming and ActionScript 3.0. However, ActionScript 3.0 was released

in a non-beta format in Fle x2 only about si xmonths before this book, and in Flash

at about the same time this book was published. So, you may not be familiar with

ActionScript 3.0, and this book is not a tutorial in ActionScript 3.0. At a minimum,

you will want to keep theActionScript 3.0 Reference Guidehandy along with any

other ActionScript 3.0 documentation that comes with Flash CS3.

We strongly urge you to get a copy ofDesign Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-

Oriented Softwaresooner or later. At a minimum, check it out of your library.

Another book we found to be invaluable is the wonderfully fun and enlightening

book,Head First Design Patternsby Eric and Elisabeth Freeman (O’Reilly, 2004). All

the examples are in Java, but even so, you’ll learn a great deal about design patterns