User Guide

66 Chapter 3: Using Best Practices
Therefore, it is particularly useful to follow guidelines in the following situations, and for the
following reasons:
When working on FLA documents Adopting consistent and efficient practices helps you speed
up your workflow. It is faster to develop using best practices, and easier to understand and
remember how you structured your document when you edit it further. Additionally, your code is
often more portable within the framework of a larger project, and easier to reuse.
When sharing FLA documents Other people editing the document can quickly find and
understand ActionScript, consistently modify code, and find and edit assets.
When working on projects Multiple authors can work on a project with fewer conflicts and
greater efficiency. Project or site administrators can manage and structure complex projects with
fewer conflicts or redundancies if you follow best practices.
When learning or teaching Flash Learning how to build Flash documents using best practices
reduces the need to relearn particular methodologies. If students learning Flash practice consistent
and better ways to structure code, they might learn the language more quickly and with less
frustration. If teachers and authors write using consistent practices and terminology, it is easier for
people in the community to learn how to use the program.
Consistent techniques and the following guidelines help those learning Flash or those working in
team environments. Consistent methods help you remember how you structured your document
when you work alone, particularly if you have not worked on the FLA file recently.
These are only a few of the reasons to learn and follow best practices. There are many other
reasons that you are sure to discover when you read these best practices and develop your own
good habits. Consider the following sections as a guideline when you are working with Flash; you
might choose to follow some or all of the recommendations. You can also modify the
recommendations to suit the way you work. The most important thing you can do when working
with Flash is to maintain consistency in how you create your documents, which helps you work
more efficiently. Many of the guidelines in this chapter help you develop a consistent way of
working with Flash and writing ActionScript.
Working with FLA files
Creating FLA files that are consistent makes it easier to work with Flash on a regular basis. It is
not uncommon to forget where you have placed particular elements, or what object instance code
is placed on. Therefore, follow these guidelines to help you avoid frustrating issues.
Organizing Timelines and the library
Frames and layers on a Timeline are two important parts of the Flash authoring environment.
These areas show you where assets are placed and determine how your document works. How a
Timeline and the library are set up and used affect the entire FLA file and its overall usability. The
following guidelines help you author content efficiently, and let other authors who use your FLA
documents have a greater understanding of how the document is structured:
• Give each layer an intuitive layer name, and place related assets together in the same location.
Avoid using the default layer names (such as Layer 1, Layer 2), because it can be confusing to
remember or locate assets when you are working on complex files.