AS3 - how to do eval() the right way

In AS2 we used to be able to refer to an instance name of an object by coding:

///AS2.0\\\
eval("my_mc"+i);

This would allow you to create and/or refer to instance names using a string. I have heard quite a bit of negativity about eval() but it did come in handy at times. In AS2, you could also use:

///AS2.0\\\
_root["my_mc"+i];

which worked well for me when pushing items to an array, before AS3 was available.

Now, the correct AS3 way to do it is either this:

///AS3.0\\\
this["my_mc" + i];

or:

///AS3.0\\\
this.getChildByName("my_mc" + i);

I would recommend the second way of doing it, because to me it just makes more sense.