Below is a short comparison table of major elements/concepts of these two languages for a quick reference.
You can read this table either left-to-right or right-to-left, depending on what’s your primary programming language is today.
This list is not complete, and your input is appreciated.
Concept/Language Construct |
Java 5.0 |
ActionScript 3.0 |
Class library packaging |
.jar |
.swc |
Inheritance |
class Employee extends Person{…} |
class Employee extends Person{…}
|
Variable declaration and initialization |
String firstName=”John”; Date shipDate=new Date(); int i; int a, b=10; double salary; |
var firstName:String=”John”; var shipDate:Date=new Date(); var i:int; var a:int, b:int=10; var salary:Number; |
Undeclared variables |
n/a |
It’s an equivalent to the wild card type notation *. If you declare a variable but do not specify its type, the * type will apply. A default value: undefined var myVar:*;
|
Variable scopes |
block: declared within curly braces,
member: declared on the class level
no global variables |
No block scope: the minimal scope is a function
local: declared within a function
member: declared on the class level
If a variable is declared outside of any function or class definition, it has global scope. |
Strings |
Immutable, store sequences of two-byte Unicode characters |
Immutable, store sequences of two-byte Unicode characters |
Terminating statements with semicolons |
A must |
If you write one statement per line you can omit it. |
Strict equality operator |
n/a |
=== for strict non-equality use !== |
Constant qualifier |
The keyword final
final int STATE=”NY”; |
The keyword const
const STATE:int =”NY”; |
Type checking |
Static (checked at compile time) |
Dynamic (checked at run-time) and static (it’s so called ‘strict mode’, which is default in Flex Builder) |
Type check operator |
instanceof |
is – checks data type, i.e. if (myVar is String){…}
The is operator is a replacement of older instanceof |
The as operator |
n/a |
Similar to is operator, but returns not Boolean, but the result of expression:
var orderId:String=”123”; var orderIdN:Number=orderId as Number; trace(orderIdN);//prints 123
|
Primitives |
byte, int, long, float, double,short, boolean, char |
all primitives in ActionScript are objects.
The following lines are equivalent; var age:int = 25; var age:int = new int(25);
|
Complex types |
n/a |
Array, Date, Error, Function, RegExp, XML, and XMLList |
Array declaration and instantiation |
int quarterResults[]; quarterResults =
int quarterResults[]={25,33,56,84};
|
var quarterResults:Array or var quarterResults:Array=[];
var quarterResults:Array= AS3 also has associative arrays that uses named elements instead of numeric indexes (similar to Hashtable). |
The top class in the inheritance tree |
Object
|
Object |
Casting syntax: cast the class Object to Person:
|
Person p=(Person) myObject;
|
var p:Person= Person(myObject); or var p:Person= myObject as Person; |
upcasting |
class Xyz extends Abc{} Abc myObj = new Xyz();
|
class Xyz extends Abc{} var myObj:Abc=new Xyz(); |
Un-typed variable |
n/a |
var myObject:* var myObject: |
packages |
package com.xyz; class myClass {…} |
package com.xyz{ class myClass{…} } ActionScript packages can include not only classes, but separate functions as well |
Class access levels |
public, private, protected if none is specified, classes have package access level |
public, private, protected if none is specified, classes have internal access level (similar to package access level in Java) |
Custom access levels: namespaces |
n/a |
Similar to XML namespaces. namespace abc; abc function myCalc(){}
or
abc::myCalc(){}
use namespace abc ;
|
Console output |
System.out.println(); |
// in debug mode only trace();
|
imports |
import com.abc.*; import com.abc.MyClass; |
import com.abc.*; import com.abc.MyClass;
packages must be imported even if the class names are fully qualified in the code. |
Unordered key-value pairs |
Hashtable, Map
Hashtable friends = new Hashtable();
friends.put(”good”, friends.put(”best”, friends.put(”bad”,
String bestFriend= friends.get(“best”); // bestFriend is Bill |
Associative Arrays
Allows referencing its elements by names instead of indexes. var friends:Array=new Array(); friends[”best”]=”Bill”; friends[”bad”]=”Masha”;
var bestFriend:String= friends[“best”]
friends.best=”Alex”;
Another syntax: var car:Object = {make:”Toyota”, model:”Camry”}; trace (car[”make”], car.model); // Output: Toyota Camry |
Hoisting |
n/a |
Compiler moves all variable declaration to the top of the function, so you can use a variable name even before it’s been explicitly declared in the code. |
Instantiation objects from classes |
Customer cmr = new Customer();
Class cls = Class.forName(“Customer”); Object myObj= cls.newInstance(); |
var cmr:Customer = new Customer();
var cls:Class = flash.util.getClassByName(”Customer”); |
Private classes |
private class myClass{…} |
There is no private classes in AS3.
|
Private constructors |
Supported. Typical use: singleton classes. |
Not available. Implementation of private constructors is postponed as they are not the part of the ECMAScript standard yet. To create a Singleton, use public static getInstance(), which sets a private flag instanceExists after the first instantiation. Check this flag in the public constructor, and if instanceExists==true, throw an error. |
Class and file names |
A file can have multiple class declarations, but only one of them can be public, and the file must have the same name as this class. |
A file can have multiple class declarations, but only one of them can be placed inside the package declaration, and the file must have the same name as this class. |
What can be placed in a package |
Classes and interfaces |
Classes, interfaces, variables, functions, namespaces, and executable statements. |
Dynamic classes (define an object that can be altered at runtime by adding or changing properties and methods). |
n/a |
dynamic class Person { var name:String; } //Dynamically add a variable // and a function Person p= new Person(); p.name=”Joe”; p.age=25; p.printMe = function () { trace (p.name, p.age); } p.printMe(); // Joe 25 |
function closures |
n/a. Closure is a proposed addition to Java 7. |
myButton.addEventListener(“click”, myMethod); A closure is an object that represents a snapshot of a function with its lexical context (variable’s values, objects in the scope). A function closure can be passed as an argument and executed without being a part of any object |
Abstract classes |
supported |
n/a |
Function overriding |
supported |
Supported. You must use the override qualifier |
Function overloading |
supported |
Not supported. |
Interfaces |
class A implements B{…} interfaces can contain method declarations and final variables. |
class A implements B{…} interfaces can contain only function declarations. |
Exception handling |
Keywords: try, catch, throw, finally, throws
Uncaught exceptions are propagated to the calling method. |
Keywords: try, catch, throw, finally
A method does not have to declare exceptions. Can throw not only Error objects, but also numbers:
throw 25.3;
Flash Player terminates the script in case of uncaught exception.
|
Regular expressions |
Supported |
Supported |
Thanks,