Why Learn ActionScript?

Today, if you’re a Flash developer, one thing is certain: animation skills, no matter how phenomenal, are no longer enough. A firm grasp of ActionScript is essential because without it, only the most elementary interactivity is possible. By acquiring an in-depth knowledge of ActionScript, you can:

• Provide a personalized user experience
• Achieve greater control over movie clips and their properties
• Animate elements in your movie programmatically—that is, without using the timeline
• Get data in and out of Flash to create forms, chat programs, and more
• Create dynamic projects that respond to the passage of time or the current date
• Dynamically control sound volume and panning
• Do much more

Add to these benefits the fact that viewing and interacting with Flash content can be more than just a web experience. Flash can create self-running applications or mini-programs that operate independently of the browser—a capability more people are putting to use to create games, learning applications, and more. If you want to do this, too, you need at least an intermediate knowledge of ActionScript.