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ActionScripting in Flash MX
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Author: Phillip Kerman
List Price: $39.99
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 0735712956
Publisher: New Riders (19 July, 2002)
Edition: Paperback
Sales Rank: 55,404
Average Customer Rating: 4.57 out of 5
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Customer ReviewsRating: 4 out of 5
Tons of info....
This book is a very good start for ActionScript Beginners, because it starts from simple things like defining a variable (Flash Basics) and goes on till the Advanced Workshops such as Drawing Graphs.Only thing that I didn't like in this book was, that Workshops section is seperated from normal chapters (lessons). Author has divided the book in two parts: Part 1 - Foundation
Part 2: Workshops I would rather prefer the workshops be inside the chapters, maybe at the end of every chapter or where necassary. So that they would seamlessly teach you how to implement the things that you have already learned. Otherwise this way you need to either finish the whole book to reach to Workshops or jump to Workshops without finishing the book, if you jump to Workshops it might be difficult since you have not learned the required knowledge for that particular Workshop. So it is your decision!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Technically correct, but dry and boring.
I have a programming background and can tell that this book is technically correct; and it does serve as a good introduction to the structure and syntax of ActionScript. There are many pearls of wisdom for the beginning programmer and much can be learned. However, my complaint is that the first half of the book is very dry with almost no (complete) examples. Rather, there are code "snipits" that do not tell the whole story. The second half (workshop) does have good examples, but you had to survive the first half to get there. If you're looking for a tutorial with step-by-step analysis, this is not your book (see the alternatives recommended above). If you didn't fall to sleep during dry, boring lectures in school, then you could benefit from the text.
Rating: 4 out of 5
One of the better books for learning ActionScript
I think this is one of the better books I have seen for learning ActionScript. There is enough detail and background on Flash to help programmers (with little to no Flash experience) as well as experienced Flash developers understand and write ActionScript. As with most books, the first couple of chapters are designed to get readers with various backgrounds to reach the same level of understanding as quickly as possible. Again, there is enough detail and background on Flash that individuals with little experience can get up to speed quickly. Additionally, there is enough basic programming information, that designers who want to learn how to program Flash can learn the jargon and be able to read code. In this discussion, the reader is introduced to arrays and objects in ActionScript in addition to learning how to create your own objects. Advanced developers will be pleased to find a section entitled "Interfacing with External Data". In this section, the reader learns how to access data via HTTP GET and how to work with XML. This section will be well read by programmers who need Flash to integrate with existing business data and infrastructure. The biggest surprise (and most welcome addition) to this book was the approximately 200 pages of "Workshop" material. In the book's workshop, the reader is presented with exercises to complete with step-by-step detail. I found the format to be similar to Microsoft's Step-By-Step books. The workshop section of this book is a great addition and pushed the book from the category of "good buy" to "must have".
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