Think of a motion picture. A script tells everyone in the movie what to do.

Action = Command

Stop

Start again

Go somewhere and

play from there

A way of talking to the "engine"

In frames and movieClips.

They can't survive on their own.

The playback head

movieClips

Each other

Among other things...

In the Actions Panel

Menu

Properties Panel

F9

Let's see...

Action assignment menu/status

Watch out -- a GOTCHA!

Actions tree panel

Script Pane

Icons

Add Actions menu

Reference

View Options

Window menu

Skip the others for now...

Use Expert Mode!

View line numbers

With the first frame selected:

var message = "hi there, Flash";

var firstName = "James";

trace(message);

As above, but try this:

trace("hi there, " + firstName + ", nice to meet you.";

A variable has a name:

firstName

A variable has a value:

"James"

Values can be text (strings) or numbers

Assign a value to a variable like this:

var firstName = "James"

AKA parameters

command(argument);

trace(firstName);

You can pass multiple arguments:

command(argument1, argument2, argument3);

A statement that operates or acts on something else.

	Concatenation
		+		"hello " + "world"
	Arithmetic
		+, -, *, /, %
	Assignment
		=
		+=		add and reassign var someNumber = 3 someNumber += 2 trace(someNumber) Output window says "5"
		-=		subtract and reassign
		*=		etc...
		/=
		%=
		++		add 1 and reassign var someNumber = 3 someNumber ++ trace(someNumber) Output window says "4"
		--		subtract 1 and reassign var someNumber = 3 someNumber -- trace(someNumber) Output window says "2"
	Comparators
		Consider:
				A = 5, B = 6, C = 7
		==		equality A == A is true A == B is false
		!=		inequality A != A is false A == B is true
		<		less than A < B is true C < B is false
		<=		less than or equal to A <= B is true A <= A is true C <= A is false
		>		greater than
		>=		greater than or equal to

Any segment of code that yields a single piece of data

7

"this is a string"

variables

9 * 12

messageVariable + " How are you?"

(2 + 3) * (4 / 2.5) - 1

Handy nomenclature when you need to say things like:
"To assign a value to a variable, type the name of the variable, then an equal sign followed by any expression"

Statements of logic that determine what to do when a specific criteria is met, or is not met.

if/then

var firstName = "James"

if (firstName == "James") {

trace("firstName was James");

}


if/then/else

var firstName = "Bob"

if (firstName == "James") {

trace("firstName was James");

} else {

trace("firstName wasn't James");

}


if/then/else if/else

var firstName = "Jane"

if (firstName == "James") {

trace("firstName was James");

} else if (firstName == "Bob"){

trace("firstName was Bob");

} else {

trace("it wasn't Bob or James");

}

Statements of logic that repeat until a condition is true

while

while(this condition is true) {

do this statement over and over
until it is not true;

}

var counter = 1;

while(counter < 5) {

counter = counter + 1;

// or counter =+ 1 or counter ++

trace(counter);

}


Output window says:

1

2

3

4

5

A string of text that is not executed as part of the script.

// This sets off a comment until you hit return

Good Habit #1: COMENT YOUR CODE AS YOU GO ALONG!