ActionScript is an open source scripting language, developed by Adobe to be used with it's authoring software, Flash to create rich interactive applications for the web, targeting the Flash Player platform.
It is a implementation of the ECMA script and hence shares major similarities in syntax with the ever so popular Javascript.
What was started to merely move sprites on the stage of a Flash movie, ActionScript and Flash saw a great deal of evolution and have incorporated a great deal of functionality over time and have proved their mettle when it comes to creating rich and interactive content for the web.
 

ActionScript 3.0
Following the takeover of Macromedia, Adobe had acquired the trademarks for Flash and Actionscript. To hold the loyalty of Flash developers, Adobe worked a great deal on developing the Flash authoring tool and the ActionScript language and made major changes to the core functions and classes and also introduced some very new classes for native touch support and some other new technologies.
A year later,along with Flash Player 9, Adobe released a newer variant of ActionScript which was completely re-written and a whole new framework was developed from scratch  for it to run on ( the Action Script Virtual machine 2 (or) ASVM2 ). This meant that flash content written with AS3 (Actionscript 3) would run upto 10 times faster than any legacy ActionScript code. AS3 also introduced Object Oriented Programming(OOP) which allowed for re-usability of code and better management of code. Since so many major changes were made, flash movies using AS3 would not be backward compatible and to support this, a great acceptance of the flash player was shown after release. 


Migrating to ActionScript 3.0 (Pros and Cons)
ActionScript 3 brought along with it tremendous amount of changes and people had mixed opinions on the newer variant and were hesitant to shift to AS3 considering the steep learning curve associated with it.
But on the other hand it had brought in vast functionality which was previously unavailable. The libraries had grown two-fold and not to mention the new ASVM2 framework and GPU accelration for media rich rich content which allowed for a faster and smoother experience of content at the end-user.
The pros had definitely out-weighed the cons and developers were seen slowly migrating to AS3. 


Conclusion
Adobe has firmly grounded its roots into the web industry with it's roster of popular software solutions for web design and with the new additions of Flash into its roster adds a cap to its feather.
Sure ActionScript3 comes with a steep learning curve but then the results are totally worth it if you are interested in programming rich internet Applications  or web design. Though it might seem frightening in the begenning, you will definitely get a hang of it in some time and considering the vast community support available thorught forums and websites dedicated to AS3, it would just make life simpler.
Considering the fact that Flash Player is one of the most accepted plug-in with about 99% of the computers enjoying its capabilities and the fact that user experience is taking higher priority, Flash is here to stay. 




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