Getting over Flash
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- Dancer
I am currently learning about the wonders of Action Script and was wondering you could tell me what was the hardest hurdle to overcome?
I have Moock, Friends of Ed and all the relative links, but still feel I am not to grips with the syntax.
Is there any advice, tips, things to remember that you could list.
What's the most popular function/line of code used?
I know this is all a little grey, just thought I would ask.
Thanks
- JamesEngage0
counting starts from 0 (not 1)
- goygoygoy0
try from scratch to realize very simple things. questions will appear. then you'll find solutions on forums or books. then add some features to your piece.etc. So you will learn my son. here some tutorials are very good. http://www.kirupa.com
- stewart0
at least your client needs the newest flash player.
- goygoygoy0
oh and of course, learn from gurus:
http://www.alstudio.fr.st
- whoohaa0
if I need code I'll steal it
can't be arsed to write it from scratch
- unfittoprint0
learn how to feed your site's content from external sources [mp3, xml, databases, ims, etc...]
the sooner the better.
and learn ways to avoid a-holes like whoohaa to steal your code.
- rabattski0
you actually learn a lot from "stealing" other people's codes. esp. when you start tweeking it. best way to start imo.
must say though that AS is a very sloppy language. accepts a lot of syntax based errors. if you're an AS crack you run into so many problems if you start coding php for instance.
- JamesEngage0
Don't use other website for inpsiration.
Don't steal code coz you'll only limit yourself by what they could do.
- Dancer0
Do you prefer placing the script on the timeline or on the MC's themselves.
I figure that a website would only be a few frames long and am curious to know wether you bundle all your code on just those few frames. Will it not slow your processor up?
- rabattski0
you only limit yourself if you just copy and paste. if you use it as a base or as a sort of reference on how other people solve certain problems it actually is a good method to learn things. why invent the wheel again?
- Dancer0
Trust me I have no intention James, I wanna learn from scratch my own way and I'm sure this would just confuse me
- Spilt-Milk0
Get the O'Reily Actinscript book - it looks blodd boring and hard going but working through that it really explains how things are working.
Flash MX games demystified also offers a simple real world approach to actionscript.
Keep going at it - it'll come in time.
- JamesEngage0
You'll find that it just clicks.
- unfittoprint0
centralize your code. Don't place it on movieclips/buttons but in action layers.
and when in doubt, use the trace action to see where the script 'fails'.
this will make debugging much faster.
- jkosoy0
Building off what everyone else has already offered:
- Learn to use #include statements. These will allow you to code while designers design. All of your code will be in one centralized place. This will involve getting quite used to dot syntax. If you're just learning AS, it may be awhile before you can wrap your head around these but they're uber useful.
- Learn trace(). Love trace().
- attachMovie & createEmptyMovieClip > putting blank symbols on the stage. Easier to find; easier to deal with.
- Ultrashock, Kirupa, Flashcoders. Flashkit for its forums, not for its scripts.
- Comment. You'll love yourself later on.
And the golden rule:
- If you're writing the same code over and over to create the same effect multiple times, there's a better way to do it. The goal is first to write code that works; but also to write code thats easy to update/modify/whatever. If you have to go to 10 different places to change 100 different things to get 5 movieclips to fade out, there's a better way.
Gluck. :)