In the recent theme of speed testing I thought I'd better double check my atan2 results, and comparing the below method to the built in one I got the following:

runAtan2():  2161
runAtan2Quicker():  1159

( For more about how I test this stuff, please check this recent post )

Phew, something actually working quickly as it's meant to.

The following method is based on code by Jim Shima, http://dspguru.com/comp.dsp/tricks/alg/fxdatan2.htm

private static var coeff_1:Number = Math.PI / 4;
private static var coeff_2:Number;
private static var r:Number;
private static var angle:Number;
private static var absY:Number;

//--------------------------------------------------------------------------
public static function atan2(y:Number,x:Number):Number{
    coeff_2 = 3 * coeff_1;
    absY=y;
    if (absY < 0) absY = -absY;                    //Math.abs
    if(x>=0){
        r= (x - absY) / (x + absY);
        angle = coeff_1 - coeff_1 * r;
    } else {
        r = (x + absY) / (absY - x);
        angle = coeff_2 - coeff_1 * r;
    }
    return y < 0 ? -angle : angle;
}

I've used static properties / method 'cause it's part of my MathX class ( So if you're going to set up a similar way, create a class called MathX and then the usage would be,

var value:Number=MathX.atan2(y,x);

Exactly the same as the built in method ).

Squize.