How do I learn Flash Actionscript?

[Dumbguy]

I’m starting from total zero. I’ve worked with lua, so I’m not completely unfamiliar with using a scripting language, but I don’t know a thing about Flash. How do I download the programming language? Do I need a compiler? Are there good tutorials online, or should I buy a book?

[sweeteviljesus]

ActionScript is a subset of ECMAScript which used to be just JavaScript. I have only used ActionScript 1.0 with FlashMX, but I have learned a little bit about the new flavors from friends still in the industry. The only free downloads are going to be for Flex, an XML-based language that allows you to manipulate Flash elements within a Flash player. Flash allows you to lay out elements on a timeline and to manage their interactivity via ActionScript. The first thing you want to do is get a copy of ActionScript: The Definitive Guide from O’Reilly. This will tell you a lot about Flash as well as ActionScript. You may also be able to download a trial copy. If you are a student, there may be discounts available.

FWIW,
Rob

[Superfluous_Parentheses]

@sweeteviljesus

ActionScript is a subset of ECMAScript which used to be just JavaScript.

ActionScript is arguably more of a superset of ECMAScript, since they jumped ahead and implemented a bunch of features that probably will never be officially standardized. Of course, they also removed a couple of features.

I have only used ActionScript 1.0 with FlashMX, but I have learned a little bit about the new flavors from friends still in the industry. The only free downloads are going to be for Flex, an XML-based language that allows you to manipulate Flash elements within a Flash player. Flash allows you to lay out elements on a timeline and to manage their interactivity via ActionScript. The first thing you want to do is get a copy of ActionScript: The Definitive Guide from O’Reilly. This will tell you a lot about Flash as well as ActionScript. You may also be able to download a trial copy. If you are a student, there may be discounts available.

FWIW,
Rob

The Flex toolkit is a free to download compiler based on Java (so it’ll work on Linux, Windows and Mac OSX at least) that includes the whole of the language, plus a bunch of library extensions. It does NOT include all of the library code that’s included in the flash toolkit (and vice-versa I’m not sure that the Flash editor includes everything that’s in the flex compiler download) and it doesn’t include any kind of editor either, just the basic compiler and some scripts. Personally, I prefer it for projects that are 90% or more ActionScript code with little or no graphics assets or pre-designed animations.

As for how you learn it, I dunno. Most of the text books seem to be geared towards designers, so you might want to pick up some kind of decent ECMA/JavaScript book to get you up to speed with the language itself, and from there work with the API docs and some books.

[Erasmus_Darwin]

@Superfluous_Parentheses

The Flex toolkit is a free to download compiler based on Java (so it’ll work on Linux, Windows and Mac OSX at least) that includes the whole of the language, plus a bunch of library extensions.

It’s actually called the Flex SDK. Normally, I wouldn’t be so pedantic, but it makes a huge difference if you’re trying to find it via Google.

Here’s a more direct link: http://opensource.adobe.com/wiki/display/flexsdk/Download+Flex+4

If you’re going the free route, I strongly recommend coupling the Flex SDK with FlashDevelop. It’s a free ActionScript IDE for Windows. When combined with the Flex SDK, it lets you build SWFs without too much grief. You still won’t have the luxury of the Flash environment for creating graphics and animation, but at least it’ll keep you from having to deal with the compiler and build process directly. It’s also got some nice code completion which reduces headaches.