Adobe FLEX 2-PROGRAMMING ACTIONSCRIPT 3.0 Manual page 19

DOM3 event model
Document Object Model Level 3 event model (DOM3) provides a standard way of
generating and handling event messages so that objects within applications can interact and
communicate, maintaining their state and responding to change. Patterned after the World
Wide Web Consortium DOM Level 3 Events Specification, this model provides a clearer and
more efficient mechanism than the event systems available in previous versions of
ActionScript.
Events and error events are located in the flash.events package. The Flex application
framework uses the same event model as the Flash Player API, so the event system is unified
across the Flash platform.
Display list API
The API for accessing the Flash Player display list—the tree that contains any visual elements
in a Flash application—consists of classes for working with visual primitives in Flash.
The new Sprite class is a lightweight building block, similar to MovieClip but more
appropriate as a base class for UI components. The new Shape class represents raw vector
shapes. These classes can be instantiated naturally with the operator and can be
new
dynamically re-parented at any time.
Depth management is now automatic and built into Flash Player, rendering assignment of
depth numbers unnecessary. New methods are provided for specifying and managing the z-
order of objects.
Handling dynamic data and content
ActionScript 3.0 contains mechanisms for loading and handling assets and data in your Flash
application that are intuitive and consistent across the API. The new Loader class provides a
single mechanism for loading SWF files and image assets and provides a way to access detailed
information about loaded content. The URLLoader class provides a separate mechanism for
loading text and binary data in data-driven applications. The Socket class provides a means to
read and write binary data to server sockets in any format.
What's new in ActionScript 3.0 19