Haxe: What Makes It Cool

Dev Ideas, episode 1

Brought to you by Chicken Wing Software

Hello, my name is...

Eddie Sullivan

Founder, Chicken Wing Software

www.chickenwingsw.com

www.devideas.com

See also: UX Ideas

DOM example

// Change an HTML element to a random color.
static function changeToRandomColor(id)
{
    var el = Lib.document.getElementById(id);
    var color = '#' + StringTools.hex(Std.random(0x1000000), 6);
    el.style.backgroundColor = color;
}

Haxe is like... Java

import js.Lib;
import StringTools;

class HaxeExample {
    // Required "main" function - called at startup.
    static function main() { }
    
    // Change an HTML element to a random color.
    static function changeToRandomColor(id)
    {
        var el = Lib.document.getElementById(id);
        var color = '#' + StringTools.hex(Std.random(0x1000000), 6);
        el.style.backgroundColor = color;
    }
}

Some familiar keywords

* Different behavior

Haxe's enums

Defining the enum:

enum Command {
  sit;
  speak(word:String);
  move(x:Int, y:Int);
}

// ... inside a function
var cmd = Command.speak("Arf!");

Haxe's switch

Using the enum:

// ... inside a function:
switch (cmd) {
  case sit:
    this.sitting = true;

  case speak(text):
    trace(text);

  case move(x, y):
    this.location = new Point(x, y);
}

Haxe's for

More like "foreach" in C#

// ... inside a function:

var names = ['Ed', 'Fred', 'Ned', 'Ted'];
// Could have written:
// var names:Array<String> = ...

for(name in names) {
  trace("Hello " + name);
}

Flash example (part 1)

import flash.display.Sprite;
import caurina.transitions.Tweener;

class Happy extends Sprite
{
    public function new(size:Float = 50)
    {
        super();
        graphics.lineStyle(1.0, 0x000000);
        graphics.beginFill(0xffff00);
        graphics.drawCircle(0, 0, size);
        graphics.endFill();
        graphics.moveTo(size * 0.3, size * 0.3);
        graphics.curveTo(0, size * 0.75, -size * 0.3, size * 0.3);
        graphics.drawCircle(-size * 0.225, -size * 0.3, size * 0.1);
        graphics.drawCircle(size * 0.225, -size * 0.3, size * 0.1);
    }
    // class continues on next slide...

Flash example (part 2)

    // ... continued from last slide
    public function start()
    {
        var that = this;
        Tweener.addTween(this, { rotation:360, time:2,
                                 transition:"linear",
                                 onComplete: start } );
        Tweener.addTween(this, { scaleX:.75, scaleY:.75, time:1 });
        Tweener.addTween(this, { scaleX:1, scaleY:1, time:1,
                                 delay:1 } );
    }

    public function stop()
    {
        Tweener.removeTweens(this);
    }
} // End of class Happy

Flash example (part 3)

import flash.external.ExternalInterface;
import flash.Lib;

class Main
{
  static var happy = new Happy(25.0);

  static function main()
  {
    happy.x = 50;
    happy.y = 50;
    Lib.current.addChild(happy);
    ExternalInterface.addCallback("startHappy", happy.start);
    ExternalInterface.addCallback("stopHappy", happy.stop);
    happy.start();
  }
}

Flash example (part 4)

What it looks like:

Stop - Start