Moock on ActionScript 4
February 16th, 2008
Colin Moock is presenting details of ECMAScript 4 at FITC. He has posted some of his lecture notes regarding changes (that will probably be present in ActionScript 4 as well). These changes include:
- Generic Functions: This functionality will add Java-style method overloading to ActionScript. A function must be defined with the keyword
generic, but then mutliple methods (with different method signatures) can be used. - Iterators and Generators: Increased support for iterating over a series of values using a class defined iterator. Both of these items are very Python-like.
- Proper Tail Calls: A function can properly call another function as its last operation - this adds increased support for recursion patterns.
- New Number Types: byte, double, decimal (and the current generic ‘Number’ type would be removed)
- Numeric Suffixes: As in Java, numeric literals will have suffixes to denote their specific numeric type.
- Vector Type: As in Java, there will be a mono-typed array called Vector. Length can optionally be pre-defined at creation.
- Record Type: Describes the details of an object - easier to create than a class. I believe it is dynamic - in that it has required values, but additional properties can be defined per instance.
- Array Type: A type that describes what will be contained within an array. For example - you could say that you will have a 7-element array made up of Strings.
- Union Types: A property (or argument) could be one of a list of types (as opposed to now where a property has to be of one type - or no type). This would give you the ability to have an argument that could be a String or XML - but nothing else.
In addition there appears to be changed to the primitive types and the addition of wrapper classes for some of the types (again, like Java). I believe these changes indicate also that the next AVM (ActionScript Virtual Machine) will be even faster - thus increasing the capability of applications that can be delivered through Flash, Flex, and AIR. This is certainly needed as some developers are already pushing the current AVM to the max (mostly with the 3D rendering engines).
UPDATE: - Francis Cheng (on the ECMAScript Committee) is now blogging about some of the details regarding ECMAScript 4.
What are your thoughts on this?
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11 comments on “Moock on ActionScript 4”
01
I am looking forward to these changes, though I would still love it if they created Threads and Runnables for “multi-threaded” applications.
02
@Dave - That would be great - I think that would also be a function of the AVM. I really hope that is on the radar for it.
03
@David Tucker - Yes, they would have to change the AVM. Maybe if we talk/blog enough about it, they will listen? Here is to hoping it is on the radar, as you say.
04
[...] bit of discussion has developed from my previous article, Moock on ActionScript 4 about features that people would like to see in future versions of ActionScript. Obviously at the [...]
05
I don’t think you should call it “ActionScript 4″ yet. It doesn’t look like Moock himself is using that term either.
As exciting as this EcmaScript 4 stuff is, I don’t know if anybody can say yet when it will be integrated into Flash.
06
@Metal - ActionScript is very closely tied to ECMAScript. Part of the reason for the excitement on his talk at FITC is that many of these features will indeed be on the drawing board for AS4. There isn’t anything solid yet, but it is certainly something for the community to look at and consider.
07
@Dave - you have the next best thing - cooperative multitasking, aka generators. Yeah, requires more choreography.
08
[...] Tucker has posted about Colin Moock and his new lecture notes on the language changes that [...]
09
[...] Tucker has posted about Colin Moock and his new lecture notes on the language changes that [...]
10
It is terrible, The velocity is fast.
11
Great changes for developers, but these continuing changes are going to evermore alienate Designers.
I think Adobe needs to work on an Actionscript Basic language for beginners and intermediate Flash users who don’t need to learn full-blown programming, but can use it and benefit from the newer VMs and AS3/4 components.
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