var x:Object = {};
var key:Sprite = new Sprite();
x[key] = ‘dood’;
Alert.show(x[key]);

Nonetheless, your example, though it appears to work, will not work in a real application. For example:

var x:Object = new Object();
x.toString = function():String{ return “1″ }

var y:String = “1″;
var z:int = 1;

var obj:Object = new Object();
object["1"] = “dood”;

var dict:Dictionary = new Dictionary();
dictionary["1"] = “dood”;

// THEN …

trace(obj[x]); // dood
trace(obj[y]); // dood
trace(obj[z]); // dood

// HOWEVER …
trace(obj[x]); // UNDEFINED
trace(obj[y]); // dood
trace(obj[z]); // dood

This is due to Object always using standard equality and Dictionary using strict equality. Thus, in MANY cases Dictionary will succeed in sensitive comparative situations where Object will definitely break and the result will be a faulty program.

var x:Object={};
var key:Sprite= new Sprite();
x[key]=”dood”;
trace(x[key]);

It’s that single point of control that I’m trying to define here – right now, an API’s dependability is controlled by the company that releases it. What I’d like to see, for the good of all, is some way to shift that point of control to a neutral, profit-motivated third party.

I know there is the traffic / load element to it – I’m wondering whether the burden can fall on the developer to provide that. So we’d maintain a set of scripts in the main languages, that provide your decoupling. You run these on your own server.

Then it’d be down to the developer to grab the updates as required, but prompted by the service?

Sadly I don’t think we’ll be seeing any major API providers weighing in here, this seems to have gone mostly under the radar. Ah well.