Is ActionScript a potential programming language?

Hi,





I want to be a freelancer of web design. whether designing flash web with actionscript is a good choice? any advice are welcome.Is ActionScript a potential programming language?
Hey Tony,





I have been programming since the early days of Actionscript 1.0, so my views are somewhat biased. However, Learning Actionscript is a smart investment in time for multiple reasons.





1. Actionscript is slowly moving towards a Java-based scripting method that integrates multi-functionality between static and dynamic functions that simply wasn't there a few years back. The importance of this, from a web designers standpoint, is the movement of web applications towards Java. Of course, this is purely observatory, but I truly believe learning Actionscript will be dually beneficial.





2. Eye-Candy websites simply kick ***. There's no better way to put that, so excuse the language. But flash is moving away from simple animations to more complex websites that focus on the UI aspect of web-design more than the looks. That being said, realize that UI relies heavily on your ability to code using actionscript. Using timelines and such inside of Flash is losing it's fundamentals and consistency. With actionscript, your able to time your events precisely how you want them to unfold.





3. And finally, coding with actionscript is simply more flexible than anything out there. I have been fortunate enough to chip in as a developer for many external classes with actionscript. Papervision is by far my favorite to have helped developed. If you know the basics of Flash, but haven't heard of papervision, shoot over to their site and check them out. Essentially, these are free classes that allow you to heavily integrate 3D objects into webpages and apps. This allows you to make truly stunning websites in a much simpler way. Better yet, once you start learning how to code in Actionscript, you can customize these classes to suit your own needs.





Either way, like I said, I have a very biased view, so I welcome those who hate Actionscript to share their complaints about it. Just remember though, if you do start learning to script with this, you will need to stay current. Actionscript is already looking at their 4th version in the near future, so staying current is the best way to keep your coding skills at their peak.





I hope that helps, have fun with it.





-M-