Actionscript 2.0 - two nagging n00b questions

programming flash
1

I’m not sure if my questions are nagging or if I’m a nagging n00b, but here goes:

I’m running flash 8 pro on a mac.

  1. When I use a for … in loop to step through an array or properties of an object, it ends up being last in - first out. Here’s what I mean:
    [FONT=Fixedsys]var testArray:Array = [“one”, “two”, “three”];
    [/FONT][FONT=Fixedsys] // prints out three, then two, then one
    [/FONT][FONT=Fixedsys] for (var i:String in testArray) {
    trace(testArray*);
    }
    [/FONT][FONT=Fixedsys] // prints out one, then two, then three[/FONT]
    [FONT=Fixedsys]for (var j:Number = 0; j<testArray.length; j++) {
    trace(testArray[j]);
    }
    [/FONT]
    What’s that all about, and is there an elegant way to make the for … in loop work first
    in - first out?

  2. I’m trying to understand literals versus new objects. To wit:
    [FONT=Fixedsys]var literalString:String = “fred”;
    var objectString:String = new String(“barney”);[/FONT]

The handy manual sez “Use string literals unless you specifically need to use a String object for better performance”.

Can someone give me an example of a place to use String objects for better performance and explain a little bit about how they improve performance?

Thanks…