Object-oriented ActionScript (Page 1 of 7 )
This chapter provides a high-level overview of object-oriented programming (OOP) in ActionScript for experienced programmers who are making their first foray into Flash development. (From the book
Essential ActionScript 2.0, by Colin Moock, O'Reilly Media, ISBN:0596006527.)
Ironically, Flash users who are new to object-oriented programming (OOP) are often familiar with many object-oriented concepts without knowing their formal names. This chapter demystifies some of the terminology and brings newer programmers up to speed on key OOP concepts. It also serves as a high-level overview of OOP in ActionScript for experienced programmers who are making their first foray into Flash development.
Procedural Programming and Object-Oriented Programming
Traditional programming consists of various instructions grouped into procedures. Procedures perform a specific taskwithout any knowledge of or concern for the larger program. For example, a procedure might perform a calculation and return the result. In a procedural-style Flash program, repeated tasks are stored in functions and data is stored in variables. The program runs by executing functions and changing variable values, typically for the purpose of handling input and generating output. Procedural programming is sensible for certain applications; however, as applications become larger or more complex and the interactions between procedures (and the programmers who use them) become more numerous, procedural programs can become unwieldy. They can be hard to maintain, hard to debug, and hard to upgrade.
Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a different approach to programming, intended to solve some of the development and maintenance problems commonly associated with large procedural programs. OOP is designed to make complex applications more manageable by breaking them down into self-contained, interacting modules. OOP lets us translate abstract concepts and tangible real-world things into corresponding parts of a program (the “objects” of OOP). It’s also designed to let an application create and manage more than one of something, as is often required by user interfaces. For example, we might need 20 cars in a simulation, 2 players in a game, or 4 checkboxes in a fill-in form.
Properly applied, OOP adds a level of conceptual organization to a program. It groups related functions and variables together into separate classes, each of which is a self-contained part of the program with its own responsibilities. Classes are used to create individual objects that execute functions and set variables on one another, producing the program’s behavior. Organizing the code into classes makes it easier to create a program that maps well to real-world problems with real-world components. Parts II and III of this bookcover some of the common situations you’ll encounter in ActionScript, and show how to apply OOP solutions to them. But before we explore applied situations, let’s briefly consider the basic concepts of OOP.
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