Dude, Where Do I Put My Code?
One of the recurring issues I see on the Adobe forums involves the “Statement must appear within on/onClipEvent handler” error, which is a baffling message if you don’t how what on or onClipEvent are — all the more so because, often as not, neither of those functions is necessary, as no events are being handled: it’s just that the ActionScript has been typed or pasted into the wrong place. I started a new series on Community MX that I hope will address this issue. The first article is free.
http://www.communitymx.com/content/article.cfm?cid=C5F00
Note, this is specifically an overview. It doesn’t go into ActionScript syntax in any great detail — it’s not a how-to-program tutorial — but it should give newcomers a better understanding of the placement choices they have when experimenting with code.