Examining display object containers

As you just learned, display object containers are special types of display objects that are capable of containing other display objects. In ActionScript, there are four primary types of display object containers:

• Stage
• Loader
• Sprite
• Movie clip

You should now be fairly familiar with all types of containers with the exception of the loader type. You will be introduced to the loader in Chapter 11.

Display object containers give you the ability to manipulate their children in a number of different ways, as you'll find out shortly. Because the display model in ActionScript 3.0 has been completely rearchitected, those migrating from earlier versions of ActionScript should find these methods a lot more efficient to work with. Additionally, this change will also give you a tremendous amount of control both inserting and changing the stacking order of your visual elements.