Macromedia flex 2-migrating applications to flex 2 Manual De Usuario

Classes and packages

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Abbreviations

ActionScript 3.0 contains fewer abbreviations in method and property names. The names are 
as descriptive as possible. For example, the 

mapPt()

 method is now 

mapPoint()

.

Some abbreviations are still used in ActionScript 3.0. For example, the 

getBounds()

 method 

was not changed to 

getBoundaries()

 because it is shorter but just as descriptive.

In some cases, the use of abbreviation was preferred. For example, the 

getBoundsOfCharacter()

 method was changed to 

getBoundsOfChar()

 because the term 

char is used in many other places in the API, such as 

String.charAt

.

Consistent use of prefixes

Prefixes on member variables in ActionScript 3.0 have been removed. For interfaces, the prefix 
“I” has been added; for example IEventDispatcher. Class names do not have prefixes.

The prefixes “is” and “has” are used on methods and accessors that test conditions. They ask a 
question of the framework. For example, 

isXMLName()

 asks “Is this an XML name?”. As a 

result, “is” and “has” prefixes are used only for reading properties and not writing.

The prefix “use” may be used to indicate a Boolean property that can be modified. For 
example, 

useHandCursor()

.

Type annotations

All variables and methods now have type annotations, and those type annotations are as 
precise as possible. The Object type is only used when there is no reasonable alternative, or 
where attempting to strongly type the value makes the language more difficult to use. For 
more information on type annotations, see 

.

The this keyword

The use of the 

this

 keyword has been made more consistent. It now refers to the instance of 

the class that the current method is in.

Classes and packages

This section describes changes to the way you write classes, interfaces, and packages in 
ActionScript.