Although I have resisted the label, it’s possible that on some degree I am in fact a programmer. Today’s Flash Bootcamp session with Colin Moock here in Rochester, N.Y., seems to support this. The session was an intermediate Flash seminar that focused on object oriented programming using ActionScript 2.0.

Turns out, I know more than I thought. Even more frightening, I find the whole thing very interesting. But perhaps that’s because our goal through the entire day was to create a program that produced a Yamagotchi (a virtual pet) that you feed or else it dies. It found this very cool and immediately wanted to make the dudes on my site suseptible to famine.

It’s often the end result that I’m interested in. The programming is just a means to an end. It’s not like I’m really into the code or anything. Though I do like knowing the rules, as people close to me can attest to (and certainly anyone who has played a game with me).

Colin is knowledgeable almost to a fault. There is almost no question about Flash and ActionScript that he does not know. Perhaps that’s why he was able to write Essential ActionScript 2.o.

Here’s some highlights from today’s seminar:

• “Everything in programming is a little anal,” says Colin.
• Colin’s ActionScript editor of choice is SEPY . It will likley soon be mine as well.
• Work on logic first, then figure out display.
• Data types are your friends.
• Colin is not a fan of getter and setter methods.
• extremeprogramming.org offers some extreme rules for programming. Duh.
• Colin really, really likes hot keys. Seriously, he has a problem.

Another eight-hour session awaits me tomorrow. I can’t wait. Seriously. Well, I can wait. But I am looking forward to it.