Introduction: Getting Started With Actionscript; Intended Audience; System Requirements; Using The Documentation - MACROMEDIA FLASH MX 2004-USING ACTIONSCRIPT IN FLASH Use Manual

Macromedia Flash MX 2004 and Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004 are the professional
standard authoring tools for producing high-impact web experiences. ActionScript is the language
you use to add interactivity to a Flash applications, whether your applications are simple animated
movies or more complex rich Internet applications. You don't have to use ActionScript to use
Flash, but if you want to provide basic or complex user interactivity, work with objects other than
those built into Flash (such as buttons and movie clips), or otherwise turn a SWF file into a more
robust user experience, you'll probably want to use ActionScript.

Intended audience

This manual assumes that you have already installed Flash MX 2004 or Flash MX Professional
2004 and know how to use it. You should know how to place objects on the Stage and manipulate
them in the Flash authoring environment. If you have written programs before, ActionScript will
seem familiar. But if you're new to programming, ActionScript isn't hard to learn. It's easy to start
with simple commands and build more complexity as you progress.

System requirements

ActionScript does not have any system requirements in addition to Flash MX 2004 or Flash MX
Professional 2004. To use ActionScript 2.0, you must use Flash MX 2004.
The documentation assumes that you are using the default publishing settings for your Flash files:
Flash Player 7 and ActionScript 2.0. If you change either of these settings, explanations and code
samples shown in the documentation may not work correctly. If you develop applications for
earlier versions of Flash Player, see
Appendix D, "Writing Scripts for Earlier Versions of Flash Player," on page

Using the documentation

This manual provides an overview of ActionScript syntax, information on how to use
ActionScript when working with different types of objects, and details on the syntax and usage of
every language element. The following list summarizes the contents of this manual.
Getting Started with ActionScript
"Porting existing scripts to Flash Player 7" on page 13
INTRODUCTION
319.
or
7