User Guide

50 Chapter 2: ActionScript Basics
When two or more operators share the same precedence, their associativity determines the order
in which they are performed. Associativity can be either left-to-right or right-to-left. For example,
the multiplication (*) operator has an associativity of left-to-right; therefore, the following two
statements are equivalent:
total = 2 * 3 * 4;
total = (2 * 3) * 4;
The following table lists all the ActionScript operators and their associativity, from highest to
lowest precedence. Deprecated Flash 4 operators are listed in Appendix B, “Deprecated Flash 4
operators,” on page 311.For more information and guidelines on using operators and parentheses,
see Chapter 3, “Formatting code,” on page 76.
Operator Description Associativity
Highest precedence
x++
Post-increment Left to right
x--
Post-decrement Left to right
.
Object property access Left to right
[ ]
Array element Left to right
( )
Parentheses Left to right
function ( )
Function call Left to right
++x
Pre-increment Right to left
--x
Pre-decrement Right to left
-
Unary negation, such as x = -1 Left to right
~
Bitwise NOT Right to left
!
Logical NOT Right to left
new
Allocate object Right to left
delete
Deallocate object Right to left
typeof
Type of object Right to left
void
Returns undefined value Right to left
*
Multiply Left to right
/
Divide Left to right
%
Modulo Left to right
+
Unary plus Right to left
-
Unary minus Right to left
<<
Bitwise left shift Left to right
>>
Bitwise right shift Left to right
>>>
Bitwise right shift (unsigned) Left to right