Granted, the Flash IDE compiles to Flash versions 9 and below
(ActionScript 1, 2, and 3) whereas the Flex Builder IDE compiles to Flash version 9 alone (ActionScript 3),
but they inherently perform the same feat. haXe is able to perform the same routine of compiling from a
source language syntax to the Flash byte code specification, much like the Flash IDE and Flex Builder,
except that haXe is able to compile a single language to both the complete Flash 6 to 8 specifications and
the Flash 9 specification. That ??™ s pretty impressive in our book (pun intended).
haXe makes all of this possible by providing a language that is loosely coupled to the output, which is
why it is able to support so many platforms. All haXe needs to understand is which equivalent structures
for each platform map to the haXe structures and how it should be serialized in the output file.
The Flash SWF file, which is one such output, is a document containing a series of codes in the form of
bytes. Each byte represents media, functions, variables, or properties that make up the content of
the movie and describe to the Flash virtual machine (or player) the exact content and functionality of the
movie.
Pages:
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46