Speaking as a fellow AS1/2 migrant I think there's some validity in the observation that AS3 is decidedly Java-like - and thankx be to ASGawds. As we get more comfortable with AS3 we will find ourselves conversant with EMCA, CSS, and Java. That's worth no small bit of pain.
Suggest you re-read Gordan's 3 options and be assured 'pages of code' isn't what it takes.