AS2 vs. AS3

[Jedimace]

Why is AS3 better then AS2? All I've seen is a different structure and a different style. Is it faster or better in any way other then style?

[xxneon]

AS3 is supposed to be more efficient and much faster.. it uses a newer Virtual Machine for executing the script..

AS1, AS2 use AVM1.. AS3 uses AVM2..

there are numerous things that you can do with as3 that can not be done in as2 as well...

I am sure there are alot more things that make AS3 better .. but these are the few i could think of off the top of my head.

[senocular]

The new style also offers new functionality and capabilities. New features are also going in AS3 only. The new text, 3D, and custom filter features in FP10? All AS3 only.

[Jedimace]

Ok, thanks. Not too many things, but I think that i want to see some good 3D soon, so I will use AS3.

[senocular]

Not too many things...

Lots of things!

[Jedimace]

Lots of things!
I only see a few things now, like better depth functions/small things, faster, and future improvement. Is there anything big I'm missing that changes it? I am trying to decide to use AS3 or AS2. I've been doing AS2 for a long time.

[senocular]

AS3 Only:
Support for binary data
Able to move movie clips to other timelines
Can dispatch events that bubble
Can disable mouse interaction with child objects
Able to target XML nodes like object properties (E4X)
Able to filter XML lists through conditions
Create AIR applications (AS3 only)
Use Flex (AS3 only)
Can itentify class definitions through introspection (reflection)
Use Dictionary objects (object-based keys)
Use Proxy class for overriding default property functionality
Namespaces for definitions
Regular expressions
(Flash Authoring) Copy animations to ActionScript
Robust error handling (synchronous and asynchronus)
Can identify current frame label
Can create class for main timeline
Runtime typing
Support for constants
Support for final classes
for each..in
super() no longer required at the top of a constructor
is operator
as casting
Helper classes
code block labels
method closures (no need for Delegate)

... plus all new features...

just to name a few off the top of my head

[Jedimace]

Hmm.. Interesting. I heard about AIR. What exactly is that?

[limitedwave]

AIR = desktop player for Flash/AS3.

I avoided using AS3 from its inception until very recently. No particular reason for that, I just didn't need to switch for anything so I didn't. Now that I've spent a few months using AS3, I had to go back to an AS2 file to make some changes/additions. Oh my god it sucked so bad! In general, AS3 flows much better in whole and makes programming a lot easier. Your code doesn't have to be all over the place, it can be all in one place. Or wherever you want. Anyhow...I was like you, until I started driving the new car...now I'm a convert.

And btw - Flex - amazing, truely amazing. I love Flex. That's what got me into AS3.

[Jedimace]

Yeah, it is much simpler with it all in one spot. I once had a project where I couldn't find code that I had made, so this would solve those type of problems.