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layout: docpage title: AS3

ActionScript 3 (AS3)

ActionScript is an object-oriented programming language originally developed by Macromedia Inc. (later acquired by Adobe Systems). It is a derivation of HyperTalk, the scripting language for HyperCard. It is now a dialect of ECMAScript (meaning it is a superset of the syntax and semantics of the language more widely known as JavaScript). Because both ActionScript and JavaScript are based on ECMAScript, most code you write in AS translates well to JS. One significant difference is that AS uses the concepts of classes and objects to structure how your code functions, while JavaScript does not have those concepts.

When you get ready to compile and run your application, the Royale compiler translates AS-specific code into JS code organized into pseudo-classes, which then run just fine in a JavaScript world.