xviii | Preface
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Acknowledgments
Since being introduced to design patterns by aYo Binitie, these programming struc-
tures have been a topic of close interest. Like a lot of ActionScript developers, we are
grateful to Colin Moock for breaching the topic of ActionScript’s use with design
patterns, inEssential ActionScript 2.0. We are also grateful to Eric Freeman and Elis-
abeth Freeman for their fabulous Head First Design Patterns—even struggling
through the Java code, we found it possible to appreciate how design patterns could
be used in ActionScript 3.0. At the root of design patterns, we must acknowledge the
venerable Gang of Four who producedDesign Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-
Oriented Software, Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson and John Vlissides.
We have spent endless hours poring over this tome.
Several people at Adobe were very generous with their time in helping out with the
ActionScript 3.0 and some insights into design patterns. They include Chris Nuuja,
Erica Norton, Geoffrey Williams, Grant Skinner, Jeffrey Mott, Mike Downey, Nivesh
Rajbhandari, Peter DeHaan, Robert Penner, Gary Grossman, Ali Mills, Francis
Cheng, David Mendels, Gordon Smith, Roger Gonzalez, Sho Kuwamoto, Francis
Chen, Emmy Huang, Werner Sharp, Joan Tan, Phil Costa, Mally Gardiner, Asa
Whillock, Chris Hock, Tareq Aljaber, San Khong, and Peter von dem Hagen.
In the Flash community, several Flash developers added further insight to both
design patterns and ActionScript 3.0. They include Peter Hall, Aral Balkan, Robert
Penner, Beau Ambur, Stefan Richter, Joey Lott, Guy Watson, Keith Peters, Will Law,
and Brian Lesser. Jonathan Kaye, who brought state machines to ActionScript, was a
huge help by going over a state design pattern that served as a model for what was
developed for the book.
We’re also very grateful to Margot Maley Hutchison at Waterside Productions for
helping to make the arrangements with O’Reilly Publishers. As always, Margot
smoothed a complex process.