Chianan Yen remarked that writing action script reminded him of writing poetry: an economical use of words (every word is important and words have a metaphorical function of referring to an object or action) and similar structure. This is a wonderful metaphor in itself.
In the world of Performance Art, there is a technical term "performative" which refers to words or actions that cause something to happen, such asying "I do" at a marriage ceremony results in a couple being married. Performatives or performative utterances exist on all levels and can be transformative such as when a magician gestures dramatically and shouts "Abracadabra!" and something magically happens.
Action script with Flash operates as strings of performatives. What you write causes something to happen...but it is strict, which is often true of performative utterances. If you don't say it exactly as you should, the spell will not be created. Maybe our modern day cyberspells are a new form of witchcraft, and actionscipt is the secret language that admits you to the Coven of Digital Sorcery.
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