Several months ago (probably almost a year ago) I wrote an article for the Adobe Developer Connection titled ”Programming with the Vector class.” As you can surely guess, the article is about the Vector class, which provides typed array functionality (an array whose elements are required to all be instances of the same data type). The Vector class was added to ActionScript in Flash Player 10 and AIR 1.5.

Apparently the article got lost in the shuffle, and about a week ago they found it and asked me to review their changes. I just found out that the article was published today.

Although it’s grouped under the “quick starts” category, it has a lot of detail. Also, it’s included in the Flash developer center but Flex developers shouldn’t be put off by that. It’s really about a core ActionScript class that’s available anywhere you’re writing ActionScript. (I’ve always found the ADC’s forced boundaries between Flash, Flex, and AIR to be too constraining for reality.)

I personally think the article provides a good, in-depth introduction to various aspects of working with the Vector class. In particular, it has guidance on areas that some people find problematic, such as the type parameter syntax and the fact that you have to provide your own custom sorting code (and of course the article includes examples to copy). I personally think it’s better than the developer guide documentation on the Vector class. (And I wrote them both so I’m not just showing a bias for my own work =)