An event-handling system allows programmers to respond to user input and system events in a convenient way. The ActionScript 3.0 event model is not only convenient, but also standards-compliant, and well integrated with the display list. Based on the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification, an industry-standard event-handling architecture, the new event model provides a powerful yet intuitive event-handling tool for ActionScript programmers.
The ActionScript 3.0 event-handling system interacts closely with the display list. To gain a basic understanding of the display list, read Display programming.