The TAAS compiler is different from the ActionScript compiler since its input is not ActionScript source code but already compiled SWF or SWC files. Just like the haXe compiler can output AS3 instead of a SWF the TAAS compiler can do the same.
Now if you add one and one together you see that the TAAS compiler can be used as a very strong decompiler. My own tests have shown that it will work flawlessly where other commercial decompilers output rubbish. Since the compiler behaves like the Flash Player it will “execute” the bytecode in order to parse it which means it has a very highlevel understanding of the structure inside the SWF.
The only question is now what to do with the source code. I wrote the decompiler for my session at FOTB to show much easier how the optimizations behave. It is also a great tool to debug errors. But should it be opened or not?
To take it one step further one might also be able to write an obfuscator using the TAAS compiler. In my opinion it would be cool to have a strong decompiler and obfuscator, both being open source. We might also add an option to protect SWFs from the decompiler by adding something to the SWF metadata for instance. Of course this is just a simple rule which could be removed by someone once the code is open. What do you think?
