CODEWITHSUNDEEP
actionscript-3namespaces
Marty
Marty

Reputation: 39456

Why would I want to use namespaces in AS3?

I've been taking a look at the use of namespaces in ActionScript 3, and honestly I can't see why they're needed. Does anyone have a convincing example of their use?

I'm also finding them strangely hard to implement.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1625

Answers (3)

user5066707
user5066707

Reputation:

These are compile time uses of namespace:

  • Sharing library internals across different packages.
  • Aliasing package.
  • Preventing name conflict.

Aliasing packages is possible with Flex SDK compiler and ShockScript. Normally, conflicting or confusing package-qualified names would be deambiguated like this:

com.qux.fn()
com.baz.fn()

But with aliasing:

namespace q = 'com.qux'
namespace b = 'com.baz'
q::fn()
b::fn()

Upvotes: 0

VKen
VKen

Reputation: 5004

I was researching on usage of this namespace feature.

I stumbled upon another link with more comprehensive explanations with some example usage in the maashaack project: https://code.google.com/p/maashaack/wiki/Namespace

One example given is overriding access modifiers. Reproduced below:

package test
{
    public class ClassA
    {
        public function ClassA()
        {
        }

        public function test( msg:String ):void
        {
           trace( msg );
        }

        protected function trace( msg:String ):void
        {
            public::trace( "[ " + msg + " ]" );
        }
    }
}

Upvotes: 0

Brian Genisio
Brian Genisio

Reputation: 48137

This is a good write-up on namespaces: http://gskinner.com/blog/archives/2010/01/a_complete_guid.html

I avoid using them in my own code... but sometimes I need to use them when working with framework classes employ them. For instance, ObjectProxy uses them.

They seem like a quirk of the language to me... and they seem like they are used to get around limitations of the language. (see comment below)

Upvotes: 3

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