# AS3 n00b questions, guidance please?

**URL:** <https://forum.kirupa.com/t/as3-n00b-questions-guidance-please/268539>\
**Category:** flash\
**Created:** [August 15, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/as3-n00b-questions-guidance-please/268539 "2008-08-15T00:48:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![El\_Phantom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d6d6ee/32.png) [@El\_Phantom](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/El_Phantom)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/as3-n00b-questions-guidance-please/268539/1 "2008-08-15T00:48:58Z")

</div>

Hey everyone, I am fairly proficient in AS2 and am finally moving to AS3 and have a question about project structure.

For my AS2 projects, i would typically have my first actions frame have code like this:

```auto

import source.test.TestClass;
var myTestClass:TestClass = new TestClass(this);

```

then the constructor in TestClass would save the reference to the main timeline / Stage (this) in a variable, and i would use that to attach clips etc. etc.

for AS3 though i am noticing that almost all the examples i come across use the new DocumentClass structure, where the base class extends Sprite or MovieClip, so my above code wouldn’t be necessary. i also notice that using class associations in the library is more robust and seems to be encouraged as well. in the past i had been wary of using this system and preferred to create new class instances manually and then just pass in references to movieclips i created so those classes could control the attached / dynamically generated movieclips. (makes sense hopefully?)

is there any compelling arguments for the new structure i should be aware of, or is my old system still viable? all your thoughts would be appreciated.

–EP