> I think Adobe is rather missing a trick in not having a stand-alone version > of Actionscript.
Really? AS3 is really just an environment-specific implementation of the latest JS specifications, along with class libraries that make sense in Flash Player. I don't think it really brings anything to the table that I can't get in C# or Java in other environments. > Yes, you're right, but in the context of someone wanting to learn AS3 as a > primary goal not general programming, such things aren't such an issue. I think you've been spoiled by your CS background, where you learned how to program before you learned how to solve domain-specific problems. > I have interpreted the original question as "Do I need to learn language X > to become an AS3 programmer" and the answer is most definitely "No". I didn't interpret the original question the same way, but if I had, I'd agree with you. > There's no harm (and much to be gained) in learning subsequent languages > once the principle concepts are grasped with the first language. What is a > mistake is to try and learn two new languages at the same time and it would > also be misleading to say that learning another language is a prerequisite for > learning AS3. I'm not sure I agree with this. I think it can be useful to learn two languages simultaneously, and see the separation between language-specific syntax and algorithms, etc. But we can agree to disagree on this. > You mention concurrency and that is something Adobe needs to address (I'm > sure it won't be easy to make the Flash infrastructure thread safe) and we > both know that it will improve performance greatly in the player where there > are multiple cores available. I'm sure it will also swell the posting on > flashcoders! I mentioned concurrency as an example, but there are lots of other examples I could have used instead. > Currently it's necessary for developers to know Actionscript for Flash and > Flex plus something else for server interaction. I'd rather see the second > language being useful to allow people to complete their pipeline to the > server than be a language that may not suit that well. It's also important > in these economic climes, that the effort put in suits the market demand for > expertise. It's unfortunate in some ways that Adobe haven't pushed the boat > a little further with a good server-side actionscript implementation to make > that access to data even easier. C# and Python are perfectly good languages for building web applications, though. PHP, on the other hand, isn't good for building anything but web applications. Plus, in my own opinion at least, C# and Python have more internal consistency in their design than PHP does - PHP is more a product of accretion than design, if you know what I mean. I'm not sure a server-side ActionScript implementation makes much sense from a business perspective, with all the very capable, mature, and commonly-used web application environments that already exist. > A lot of people want to learn Actionscript and I'd rather they didn't think > that they had to learn another language to do so, or mistakenly attempt to > take on two new languages as an entry to programming at the same time. Well, that's all true if you want to learn ActionScript. But many people presumably want to learn AS in order to build web applications, which potentially involve all sorts of moving parts - AS, HTML and JS on the client, some application server in the middle, SQL on the database. Dave Watts, CTO, Fig Leaf Software http://www.figleaf.com/ Fig Leaf Software provides the highest caliber vendor-authorized instruction at our training centers in Washington DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Baltimore, Northern Virginia, or on-site at your location. Visit http://training.figleaf.com/ for more information! _______________________________________________ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
