Flash Advanced Scripting

Objectives

To carry on where the Flash Intro course left off, introducing more advanced Flash techniques and methods. During this course the delegates will gain a more in depth understanding of how to use Flash to their commercial advantage, building up a better general knowledge of standard programming techniques. Actionscript skills will be taught through the creation of useful, real life applications.

Where we are

Dialogue to discover the current level of expertise of the delegates, making sure the basic principles of what makes a Flash movie are understood.

Best practice

What developers should, and should not do, when building a Flash application. What are the right, and the wrong ways of approaching development. How does working with a team of developers effect the application design?

Advances in Flash

Looking at the differences between Flash 5, Flash MX, and Flash MX 2004. Explaining and examining the differences needed when aiming your Flash application at different target systems, and an initial look at the added functionality of the more recent versions.

Object Orientation

Simple introduction to this sometimes daunting topic, with real world analogies and examples of how this relates to Flash. Explaining the benefits of this kind of development, and how it can dramatically reduce development time.

The power of the MovieClip

Examining the MovieClip object in flash, and seeing how it is as much a tool for the developer as it is the animator. Looking at MovieClip events, actions and techniques and how this relates to Object Orientation.

Objects

Introduction to the Object in Flash, with examples of how this relates to real life scenarios. Prototyping, constructors and callbacks are explored in this section. The difference between _root, _level0, _parent and _global is examined.

Functions

Looking at how to structure a movie giving the most flexibility, power and adaptability. Introduction to function design, parameters and return values.

External Data

Looking at the different ways of bringing external data into Flash, from text file, XML file or from a database. Explanation of how methods differ depending on your target audience specification, and demonstration of some useful tips and tricks to ease external data manipulation within Flash.

Components

Explanation of the components introduced from Flash MX onwards. How these can be used, why they are useful, and how they can be adapted or extended.

XML

An introduction to the XML processing power within Flash, with examples of how this often confusing subject can be useful. Both reading and creating XML documents is explored.

Gaming techniques

Introduction to various gaming techniques, which are useful in all interactive Flash applications. Hit testing, movie clip manipulation and use of functions are all explored through the creation of a simple game.

Multiuser development

Introduction to the field of developing multiuser Flash applications. Be it chat applications, multi player gaming, or more advanced community tools, the basic premise is the same and we will be looking at what’s involved both from a structural perspective, and getting hands on with the code.

Advanced streaming techniques

How to reduce the wait? Stub files, pre-caching and application design are all examined here. Here we also look at ways of improving the performance of a Flash movie, seeing how to make your code more efficient to enhance the experience for your users.