Understanding ActionScript > Understanding ActionScript: Overview

Understanding ActionScript: Overview

ActionScript, Flash's scripting language, adds interactivity to a movie. You can set up your movie so that user events, such as button clicks and keypresses, trigger scripts that tell the movie what action to perform. For example, you can write a script that tells Flash to load different movies into the Flash Player depending on which navigation button a user chooses.

Think of ActionScript as a tool that allows you to create a movie that behaves exactly as you want. You don't need to understand every possible use of the tool to begin scripting; if you have a clear goal, you can start building scripts with simple actions. You can incorporate new elements of the language as you learn them to accomplish more complicated tasks.

This chapter introduces you to ActionScript as an object-oriented scripting language and provides an overview of ActionScript terms. It also deconstructs a sample script so that you can begin to focus on the bigger picture.

This chapter also introduces you to the Actions panel, where you can build scripts by selecting ActionScript elements or entering text into the Script window.