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Chandima Cumaranatunge

http://twitter.com/chandimac

Areas of Expertise:

  • RIA Development
  • ActionScript
  • Design Patterns
  • User Experience
  • Casual Game Design
  • Instructional Design

Biography

Dr. Chandima Cumaranatunge has a background in Computer Engineering and Instructional design. He is an Assistant Professor in two departments at the University of Hartford. He teaches courses on developing learning environments in the Department of Educational Technology, and web development and casual game design in the Multimedia Web Design & Development program. He enjoys teaching OOP using non-traditional means such as programming robots and games. Chandima also develops informal learning environments and is currently a Co Principal Investigator of a National Science Foundation, ITEST youth empowerment project, that teaches IT skills to Hartford area students. He blogs on ActionScript design patterns at www.as3dp.com.

Books

Blog

Chandima's blog posts are hosted at:
http://www.as3dp.com/

AS3 Design Patterns now on iPhone!

November 03 2009

We were delighted to hear that our book was selected by O’Reilly to be among the first to be made available for the iPhone! Check out the tweet on our MicroBlog to see iPhone application with our book. Or just open iTunes and search for “O’Reilly Design Patterns” and there… read more

Truckin’ Through ActionScript 3.0 MVC: Part V—Purpose and Use

November 03 2009

The MVC remains one of the most valuable structures for understanding and using Design Patterns, and yet I believe it to be misunderstood and misused on just about every level imaginable. In the first chapter of their book, the Gang of Four spend a mere two pages describing MVC in… read more

Truckin’ Through ActionScript 3.0 MVC: Part IV—Making Changes

November 01 2009

I mentioned that updating and changing programs is the sine qua non of Design Patterns. Further, I promised that it wouldn’t take very long to get to Part IV of this series because all I was going to do was to update the original compass program. So that’s what I… read more

Truckin’ Through ActionScript 3.0 MVC: Part III—An Analog Compass

October 31 2009

It’s been a busy month, and finishing up a simple MVC example took me longer than I expected. Chandima’s chapter (Chapter 12) lighted the way, and I also found valuable ActionScript 3.0 examples by Bill Trikojus and Anthony Kolber . So if you experience a sense of déjà vu, it’s… read more

More OOP Principle Analogies

October 30 2009

At this last OOPSLA conference I was talking with one of the European participants about remembering the different principles, and he showed me this series of images based of SOLID principles. The SOLID principles are based on the acronym: S: Single responsibility principle O: Open closed principle L: Liskov substitution principle I: Interface segregation… read more

OOPSLA 2009: Hope to See Some ActionScripters!

October 23 2009

Tomorrow morning bright and early I’m off to Orlando, Florida for the 2009 Object Oriented Programming and System Languages Association (OOPSLA) annual meetings. I’ll be making an ActionScript 3.0 presentation in a workshop on Sunday. Our workshop is named “Good Examples for Exposing Bad Practice” and meets in Pastoral 3… read more

Mansions in the Slum: The Case of Beautiful Algorithms and Disappointing Designs

October 17 2009

Some years back when I was flying with Flying Samaritans, I was invited to a party for a fellow pilot in Beverly Hills, California. Since the party involved a good deal of celebration, I had to stay over—no way I was going to fly back to San Diego that evening.… read more

Truckin’ Through ActionScript 3.0 MVC: Part II—Reality Sui Generis or Collection of Spare Parts?

October 04 2009

I was going over Chapter 12 in our book that Chandima wrote on the MVC. It’s one of those chapters that has everything you need to get started on the MVC; so, I’ll use it as an anchor for my comments and make references to different parts of it to… read more

Golden Lunch Bucket Contest #5 Update-Example

September 27 2009

Like the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears we’re seeking a way to get more of you involved in the Golden Lunch Bucket contests—trying to find the one that is just right. As noted in our original announcement (where you find the link to download the Dragon Factory) all… read more

A Closer Look: Using MovieClip.addFrameScript()

September 23 2009

In a recent post, I looked at using the undocumented MovieClip.addFrameScript() method. It is a solution for accessing MovieClip objects with embedded tweens using external ActionScript 3.0. Not only is this important for controlling animations, but it is also a way to add code in classes that are part of… read more

Closer Look: Using MovieClip.addFrameScript()

September 22 2009

In a recent post, I looked at using the undocumented MovieClip.addFrameScript() method. It is a solution to accessing MovieClip objects with embedded tweens using external ActionScript 3.0., Not only is this important for controlling animations, but it is also a way to add code in classes that are part of… read more

Truckin’ Through ActionScript 3.0 MVC: Part I—Structures and Materials

September 21 2009

First off, let me say that Chandima is the go-to guy when it comes to the Model-View-Controller (MVC) framework, including PureMVC. So if you’re interested in MVCs, I’d suggest you start where I did—Chapter 12 in our book and any of Chandima’s posts on PureMVC. Further, if you have GoF’s… read more

US Moves to Second Place in Golden Lunch Bucket World Cup—Contest #5 Announced!

September 21 2009

In the fourth Golden Lunch Bucket Contest, Barbara Parkman entered for the first time and won the Grand Prize. This moves the US from last to second place in the World Cup. Barbara Parkman, USA Barbara’s entry added a Movement interface and implemented a movement class for each of the characters.… read more

OOP for Artists: Using a Client Class

September 18 2009

Here is another introductory video for artists and beginning OOPers. I was almost finished with it when the other one went up this morning. This one covers using other classes (besides ones in the Library) for making things happen. The Client class is often part of a Design Pattern, but… read more

OOP for Artists: Classes from Graphics

September 18 2009

I don’t want to bore everyone with the trials and tribulations I’ve been going through with the technical problems I’ve had with Adobe Premier CS4, Snow Leopard and the new QuickTime screen sharing feature, but I think I’ve got them solved. For some reason the .mov files generated with QT… read more
Chandima Cumaranatunge