Flash events execution order - actionscript-3

Question

Check out the next code, tell me what do you expect to be printed. Then run it and check what is really happen.
package
{
import flash.display.Sprite;
import flash.events.Event;
public class TestFlashEvents extends Sprite
{
private static const DUMMY_EVENT:String = "DummyEvent";
private var dummyObjects:Vector.<DummyObject> = new Vector.<DummyObject>(100);
public function TestFlashEvents()
{
for(var i:int = 0; i < dummyObjects.length; i++){
dummyObjects[i] = new DummyObject(this);
addEventListener(DUMMY_EVENT, dummyObjects[i].listener);
}
removeEventListener(DUMMY_EVENT, dummyObjects[41].listener);
dispatchEvent(new Event(DUMMY_EVENT));
}
private var counter:int = 0;
public function onGettingEvent(dummyObject:DummyObject):void{
if(counter == 25){
for(var i:int = 0; i < 50; i++){
removeEventListener(DUMMY_EVENT, dummyObjects[i].listener);
trace("Removing", dummyObjects[i].id);
}
}
trace("Handeling event", counter, dummyObject.id);
counter++;
}
}
}
import flash.events.Event;
class DummyObject
{
private static var dummyObjectsCounter:int = 0;
public var id:String;
private var tester:TestFlashEvents;
public function DummyObject(tester:TestFlashEvents)
{
this.tester = tester;
id = "DummyObject " + dummyObjectsCounter;
dummyObjectsCounter++;
}
public function listener(event:Event):void{
tester.onGettingEvent(this);
}
}
The removeEventListener function is actually not working. Tell me what do you think about it. I also open a bug in adobe.

Answer 1

This code means Adobe caches event listener list prior to actually calling event listeners. It is an unusual behavior to have two listeners for one particular event over one single object, but if it happens, Adobe assumed that all listeners should be invoked prior to actually modifying this list. I was actually expecting all 99 listeners to get called. So, this behavior can even be by design, because re-rendering the event listener list while processing a single event will put a too heavy load on Flash, so that the lags will galore. No one wants lags.

Answer 2

This can easily be fixed by prioritizing you event listeners.
This is not a Flash bug, it is, like Vesper said caching of event listeners to prevent lag.
Here is the updated version of your code, mark the prioritizing on the addEventListener call.
package
{
import flash.display.Sprite;
import flash.events.Event;
public class TestFlashEvents extends Sprite
{
private var _this = this;
private static const DUMMY_EVENT:String = "DummyEvent";
private var dummyObjects:Vector.<DummyObject> = new Vector.<DummyObject>(100);
public function TestFlashEvents()
{
for(var i:int = 0; i < dummyObjects.length; i++)
{
dummyObjects[i] = new DummyObject(this);
addEventListener(DUMMY_EVENT, dummyObjects[i].listener, false, dummyObjects.length - i);
}
removeEventListener(DUMMY_EVENT, dummyObjects[41].listener);
dispatchEvent(new Event(DUMMY_EVENT));
}
private var counter:int = 0;
public function onGettingEvent(dummyObject:DummyObject):void
{
if (counter == 25)
{
for (var i:int = 0; i < 50; i++)
{
removeEventListener(DUMMY_EVENT, dummyObjects[i].listener);
trace("Removing", dummyObjects[i].id);
}
}
trace("Handeling event", counter, dummyObject.id);
counter++;
}
}
}
import flash.events.Event;
class DummyObject
{
private static var dummyObjectsCounter:int = 0;
public var id:String;
private var tester:TestFlashEvents;
public function DummyObject(tester:TestFlashEvents)
{
this.tester = tester;
id = "DummyObject " + dummyObjectsCounter;
dummyObjectsCounter++;
}
public function listener(event:Event):void{
tester.onGettingEvent(this);
}
}