Learning ActionScript 3.0: A Beginner's Guide | 
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| Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Amazon.com Review
Product Description
In this book, authors Rich Shupe and Zevan Rosser share the knowledge they've gained from their years as multimedia developers/designers and teachers. Learning ActionScript 3.0 gives you a solid foundation in the language of Flash and demonstrates how you can use it for practical, everyday projects. The authors do more than just give you a collection of sample scripts. Written for those of you new to ActionScript 3.0, the book describes how ActionScript and Flash work, giving you a clear look into essential topics such as logic, event handling, displaying content, migrating legacy projects to ActionScript 3.0, classes, and much more. You will learn important techniques through hands-on exercises, and then build on those skills as chapters progress. ActionScript 3.0 represents a significant change for many Flash users, and a steeper learning curve for the uninitiated. This book will help guide you through a variety of scripting scenarios. Rather than relying heavily on prior knowledge of object-oriented programming (OOP), topics are explained in focused examples that originate in the timeline, with optional companion classes for those already comfortable with their use. As chapters progress, the book introduces more and more OOP techniques, allowing you to choose which scripting approach you prefer. Learning ActionScript 3.0 reveals: New ways to harness the power and performance of AS3 Common mistakes that people make with the language Essential coverage of text, sound, video, XML, drawing with code, and more Migration issues from AS1 and AS2 to AS3 Simultaneous development of procedural and object-oriented techniques Tips that go beyond simple script collections, including how toapproach a project and which resources can help you along the way The companion web site contains material for all the exercises in the book, as well as short quizzes to make sure you're up to speed with key concepts. ActionScript 3.0 is a different animal from previous versions, and Learning ActionScript 3.0 teaches everything that web designers, GUI-based Flash developers, and those new to ActionScript need to start using the language.
Praise
"The best ActionScript book ever written."
-Lee Brimelow, Creator of The Flash Blog
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Customer Reviews:
• Great Book For Programmers, Albeit Badly Titled 14 December, 2008
First off, let me preface this by saying I have been programming for about 10 years or so and while I think this is a GREAT Flash primer for programmers, this is not a book for beginning programmers.
ActionScript 3 as a language is very similar to Java and other C based Object Oriented Languages, but the hardest entry point into Flash for programmers is the fact that the Flash IDE is really aimed at designers. Adobe has created Flex as a tool for programmers who wish to use ActionScript 3 to create Rich Internet Apps, but the Flex framework has a fairly large (200k) footprint which is not suitable for all applications.
This book does a very good job of explaining how to set up the Document class (so you can start adding code), how the DisplayList works, and how to tie in your visual components to your code as well as having lots of other Flash tips for programmers.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2HR3N6VN0NCC5
• Wait For Revised Edition 07 January, 2009
The general approach isn't bad, and this might be a pretty decent book some day, when it's been re-reviewed and had all the typos and code errors fixed. I've learned a lot by figuring out the errors! But that's not a very pleasant way to learn. It's fairly clear to me that they stopped adding corrections to the companion site lest potential readers catch on. And there really is no excuse for not matching the site file names to those used by the book. Actionscript is hard enough without having to deal with the lack of publishing professionalism here. You might want to try a different book.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1SQSNBK78AGK
• Excellent Resource For Learning As3 02 December, 2008
This is an excellent book, especially for Flash users who need to know the basics of AS3. There's a huge difference between AS2 and AS3, and This book really helps bridge that gap.
If you are just starting out in AS3 then this book is a great place to start. I refer to it daily. While it doesn't have the heavy detail of a 900+ page reference manual, in my opinion this book is probably the best introduction to AS3 currently on the market.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3OB11Y6UO941W
• Poorly Written For Begininers 09 December, 2008
There is a reason the joke of "hello world" exists.
Because most well written programming books start with a small program and expand on it so you can see how it all connects. This mess of a book jumps around with unconnected code snippets, offering newbies no insight into how it is all put together.
If you are actually a beginner to action script and not a professional doing some log rolling, avoid this book like the plague.
- Reviewed by customer ID: ABK4H5XB68RZV
• Better For Programmers Than As2 Scripters. 08 January, 2009
I've been using Flash for a number of years and am a decent, intermediate level AS2 user. I have to agree with the reviewer frustrated with the jargon-filled descriptions and the undefined terms. The author knows his stuff but this book is far better for the programmer who wants to learn Flash than it is for the regular AS2 flash user who wants to migrate to AS3. I find myself learning more from studying the accompanying code than reading the explanatory text. Once I read through the entire book I will go back and start from scratch, hopefully understanding more of the purpose behind the changes in AS3, but right now I am plodding through long definitions of aspects of AS3 the purpose of which have yet to be described and which are full of undefined jargon. This also seems best suited to those working on very large multi-media projects rather than medium sized graphics-heavy interactive projects.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AT2UMSBIULNG5
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