Actionscripting in Normal Mode: No More

I can't remember the last time I used Normal Mode to write ActionScript. As a matter of fact, I didn't notice normal mode was gone in Flash MX 2004 until last thursday, while we were having a session with James Talbot at the monthly NYMMUG meeting.

A nice lady that was seated by my side was shocked: being an instructional designer for a high-school, she couldn't believe it was for real, and made it clear to James.... several times. I tried to explain to her that even though Flash MX 2004 comes with AS 2.0, she could still use AS 1.0 for her projects; but it seemed to me that her teaching methods are very tied to coding in "normal mode". She is not upgrading.

Granted, I'm sure most people reading don't use normal mode in Flash. I myself, not being a seasoned programmer, needed only a few weeks to give up normal mode and start coding by hand. For me, like most of the people I know that started using Flash by the same time, normal mode wasn't helpful with long and complex scripts. However, I HAD to use it to really understand ActionScript. Today, people new to Flash won't have the same opportunity, and I think it's a mistake. Although Macromedia is trying to appeal more to developers, forgetting about designers is not the way to go.

I just made it official by sending a feature request at Macromedia's web site, but I would like to know what do you think about this. As always, your comments are most welcome.