<p>The <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20171028212944/http://bloople.net/as3ls/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ActionScript 3 specification</a> frequently uses the term &quot;frame&quot; within the verification phase such as in:</p>
<p>(1)</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Code inside a <code>with</code> statement will have a <code>with</code> frame as the inner most scope on the scope chain.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>(2)</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Let frame be an empty activation frame</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Is &quot;frame&quot; the same as &quot;scope&quot; in terms of the scope chain?</p>

<semantics>
Does ActionScript 3's specification use "frame" to mean the same thing as "scope"?
<p>In my experience, <em>scope</em> tends to refer to regions of source code in which certain names/variables/symbols are available, and <em>frame</em> (or related terms like <em>stack frame</em> or <em>activation frame</em>, but the ActionSCript 3 specification appears to be making a distinction between &quot;frames&quot; and &quot;activation objects&quot;) refers to a memory region or object that exists when the compiled code is being executed that keeps track of associations between names/variables/symbols and values.</p>
<p>So they are usually different but closely related concepts, <em>scope</em> being generally a concept discussed as part of the language design, and <em>frame</em> being a concept for discussing the implementation. As far as I can tell, the ActionScript 3 specification simply does not make a distinction between design and implementation in this case.</p>

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2023-12-19T15:35:42.820Z
2023-12-19T15:35:42.820Z
Jasmijn
# Does ActionScript 3's specification use "frame" to mean the same thing as "scope"?
Posted by: username_0 on 2023-12-19
The [ActionScript 3 specification](http://web.archive.org/web/20171028212944/http://bloople.net/as3ls/) frequently uses the term "frame" within the verification phase such as in:

(1)

> Code inside a `with` statement will have a `with` frame as the inner most scope on the scope chain.

(2)

> Let frame be an empty activation frame

Is "frame" the same as "scope" in terms of the scope chain?
**Tags:** semantics
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## 1 answers
### Answer by username_1 on 2023-12-19. Score: 2 | Accepted answer
In my experience, *scope* tends to refer to regions of source code in which certain names/variables/symbols are available, and *frame* (or related terms like *stack frame* or *activation frame*, but the ActionSCript 3 specification appears to be making a distinction between "frames" and "activation objects") refers to a memory region or object that exists when the compiled code is being executed that keeps track of associations between names/variables/symbols and values.

So they are usually different but closely related concepts, *scope* being generally a concept discussed as part of the language design, and *frame* being a concept for discussing the implementation. As far as I can tell, the ActionScript 3 specification simply does not make a distinction between design and implementation in this case.
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