Four lines of code are all you need to freeze Flash solid! :) This discovery is brought to you courtesy of a simple flaw in logic.

Warning: Don't try this in the IDE unless you want to restart it. At least publish it for your browser so you'll only have to restart that.

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I love syntax errors. Actually, I love all compilation errors. They're always welcome because, unlike run-time errors, they are usually easy to pinpoint and fix. Not this time though. I present to you the baffling case of the syntax error that wasn't.

It all began not too many keystrokes ago, while porting some old code to ActionScript 2. After running the test, I got a syntax error pointing me to a closing brace. This was going to be easy -- I missed a brace somewhere. It happens! Child's play! Not so, it would appear... After some frantic "CTRL-M"ing in PrimalScript (match brace), I found that all the braces matched. Oh, oh!

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I'm glad to report Bill Perry responsed to my post regarding the Macromedia FlashLite contest's terms and conditions and that clarified the issue.

Basically, he has given assurances that Macromedia is not looking to use the entries in their own products or services and that the clause in question is there only so they can use entries on their web site or in other promotional materials. I quote from his reply:

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Jed Wood posted a comment on the first installment of my Hands-on:Introduction to ActionScript 2 tutorial series, asking: "While I admire your desire to have NO lines of code in your .FLA (not even a "main(), such as Colin Moock suggests"), doesn't this necessitate that you manually place movie clips on the timeline at author time (at least one)? That seems to go against being a code purist..."

I was in the process of replying in the comments when I realized that I had written enough for a post, so here goes:

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John Dowdell from Macromedia has blogged a reply to my post, Worries about FlashLite contest rules, wherein I stated my concern that Macromedia's terms and conditions for the FlashLite contest they are currently running allows them to take your submissions, incorporate them into their own products/services or release them as their own products/services without giving you any compensation. The relevant clause is below:

Under point 8 (Assignment of Rights), below:

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