Flash AS3 Dictionary - bliss!

I came in on ActionScript at version 3, and with a strong javascript and .NET background.

Compared to javascript (which I quite like), I think ActionScript is even better. (They both have major issues, but I still quite like them, even if I hate the Flash software development tools which are "crappy as"...)

Sometimes you need to iterate a set of ActionScript object instances, and keep a record of some piece of data for each object instance.

In javascript it's easy - just add a new dynamic data field to each object instance.

But ActionScript adds the concept of "sealed" classes, which prevent the dynamic addition of new data fields.

So we're stuffed?

Well, there is a solution. Only one, but it works very well.

It's the new ActionScript 3 Dictionary.

It is an associative array keyed not by a string but by an object instance.

I use Dictionary objects all the time in other languages, so I was hoping ActionScript might have one, and I finally went looking for it, and found it yesterday.

Here are two articles I felt did a great job of introducing this powerful Dictionary object :

• Building A Better Array - The Dictionary Class
• Vector And Dictionary In ActionScript 3

Viva la Dictionary!