Given its ability to deliver high-impact experiences even over low-bandwidth connections, Flash has become the de facto standard for hundreds of thousands of multimedia web developers worldwide.

Flash 5 now includes a new full-fledged programming language called "ActionScript" for controlling animation and multimedia. It's a quantum leap from the bare-bones "Actions" supported in Flash 4, and ActionScript: The Definitive Guide is the first book dedicated entirely to documenting and demonstrating this new language.

ActionScript includes all fundamental programming constructs (variables, loops, conditionals, functions, etc.), and is inextricably fused with Flash's authoring behaviors and animation timelines. Because ActionScript is based heavily on the ECMAScript Language Specification (ECMA-262) and is syntactically nearly identical to JavaScript, Macromedia expects thousands of existing JavaScript programmers to migrate to ActionScript.

This book is divided into three sections.

• "ActionScript Fundamentals" introduces both programmers and non-programmers to the new language by first describing fundamental programming concepts and then delineating in detail the components, syntax, and usage of ActionScript.
• "Applied ActionScript Code Depot" shows you how to use common applications, such as processing online forms.
• "Language Reference" is a concise and detailed reference that makes all ActionScript globals, properties, and objects, including extensive implementation samples, easy to find quickly.

Code samples are also available from the "Code Depot" on the author's web site devoted to Flash developers.

Topics covered in this book include:

• Step-by-step tutorials of the most common ActionScript behaviors
• Object-oriented programming in Flash
• Intelligent interface development
• Server communication
• Dynamic content generation
• Password protection
• String handling
• Message boards
• Basic physics
• Games

ActionScript: The Definitive Guide is structured so both programmers and non-programmers can learn how to use ActionScript. This book will take you well beyond simple Flash animations so you can create your own enhanced Flash-driven sites.