Confused over the ''WHY''

I know this is going to sound like I'm a smart aleck but I'm
just trying to figure it all out and so far things have not been
answered in a way that I can understand. I must be missing
something because I can't seem to figure out the reason for
actionscript (.as) files. I don't come from a programming
background and I've been trying to figure out this stuff on my own
for quite some time. I believe the trouble lies in the question
''Why would Adobe/Macromedia think doing it this way is a good
thing?''



What is the benefit of having .as files over having the
script incorporated right in the movie file (other than for
components)? I've gone through several Flash Training programs and
no one's given a really good explaination. From my point of view,
it seems to leave me wide open to make mistakes. The code is more
complex, you got the public and private and different rules than in
the movie files. You're left wide open to lose things, especially
if your hard drive crashes. Also, if you want to share, you need to
send a whole folder full of stuff to make it work.



I'm must be missing some very important point(s) here because
the complexity and confusion to me seems like something that
companies would avoid. Does anyone know of a good resource that
truely explains this stuff and doesn't just tell you to ''do this'',
''do that''.



I've never been a good one to memorize stuff, but if i can
actually understand it, it becomes mine.Confused over the ''WHY''
it really isn't a good system for most non-professionals. if
you want to create some modest flash content that's not going to
change in the future, it's much easier to code within the authoring
environment and not use class files.



i code within the flash ide all the time especially when
testing something i've never done before. then for appropriate
projects i take what i've learned and use oop and class files.



however, if you are creating a large complex project (and
especially if you're collaborating with others), using classes and
oop is very helpful. if you create lots of projects and find the
need to use (and re-use) certain blocks of code, using class files
can be very helpful.



and even for small projects (like my website www.kglad.com) i
used class files because i knew when i started i would want to add
features in the future.



in fact, this past weekend i added a new ''about me'' button.
and that loads a bio.swf that contains 5 more buttons and each of
those does something. that entire update was trivial because i had
created a button class that creates the button graphics and button
actions (rollover, rollout and press).



all i had to do was supply the button's label, its x,y
properties and its action (load something, navigate to somewhere or
execute php file).



but again, you're correct: for simple things, the extra work
creating a class file isn't worth-while unless the project is large
or uses multiple contributers or needs to be easily
extensible.Confused over the ''WHY''
Glad to know that I am not the only one who sometimes does it
first in the IDE and then moves it over to a class.



And I agree with everything kglad said. The real value of
this type of approach comes when you will be working with others.



In many ways I look at classes as being ''black boxes.'' You
put this in hear and that comes out there. The actual mechanism
isn't that important. (Assuming the coding is sound in general.) So
different parts of the team can work on different parts of the
problem.



As for a good resource, I recommend Colin Moock's books on
Actionscript. He is very good about explaining why something is
done.
Speaking as a C++ programmer, I have been avoiding
actionscript until now. I've always found the coding structure to
be a mess. Previous versions of flash had you throwing snippets of
code all over the place... the timeline, movieclips, buttons...
it's just so disorganized.

With AS3 everything is finally coming together. It all makes
sense now and I'm actually enjoying programming in flash.



So to answer your question, I think Adobe created AS3 to be
more appealing to programmers from a more traditional
background.
Thanks for the help. I guess the confusion comes because I
always assume they show you the ''best'' way or only way of
accomplishing a job. It's good to know that it's examples and not
necessarily best practices. I think that was the confusing part of
it all.



I guess I've been trying since MX, skipped over 2004, got 8
and now CS3. While it seems i put a lot of time into studying it, i
don't have the occasion to actually put it into practice much and
therefore i've never gotten much chance to really practice it.



Thanks everyone!
you're welcome.