Message from Dean - May 8th 2007
I am currently testing out a new version of the APF Bridge Component - If you notice any errors within this demo store please drop me a line.
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EXCELLENT BOOK.
If your new to actionscript 3 or just new to actionscript period , this book will help you catch up with it. You will feel confident as you go through the book and practice examples.
What I really liked is that while the book is showing you how to code with actionscript 3, the examples will even apply to actionscript 2 or 1 ( with different coding of course, but the principle idea is great)
I would really recommend you pick up this book.
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First off: if you havent written any code, ever, im pretty sure this book isnt for you.
If, however, youve written some AS2, or even AS3, and thrown up your hands in frustration, you've found the right title.
Before I read Learning AS3, I had read more complex books like Essential AS3 and AS3 Bible, and written some AS3 and some AS3/MXML and a bunch of procedural AS2 and AS1; not a novice. But the hard edges of the new version of the language were still unclear to me, as I'd read tons of theory and had less than enough practice.
This book is the one that combined these two areas oh so well. It takes the theoretical aspects of AS3 and applies them as no book I've read before does. And the authors explanation of what they are doing and WHY is way better than any flash book I've read since Foundation Flash 5 (published around 2000); There may be typos and code mistakes as mentioned in other reviews, but honestly that wasn't my takeaway from the book. Rather here's a book that gives you a much better understanding of the whys; a book that will help you build what you want to build as opposed to doing mindless tutorials; a really excellent book at getting you over the hump of AS3. Spend the money and read the book. Its the one i recommend to anyone at any level who asks; its that good.
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I first became interested Learning ActionScript 3 after initially reading a few samples posted on Adobe's website. What I found was an excellent starting point that drove me to finally make the jump from ActionScript 1 and 2. In practice, most books I have read about ActionScript 3 focus on the Flex platform, which is outside of what I'm looking for. Rather, I needed something that focused on developing in the Flash IDE (Flash CS3 as of this review), which is exactly what this book is written for.
I picked it up as supplement material to aid me in programming a large game programming project. Basically, I've referenced this book to understand the key concepts needed for my game, borrowing code samples where needed and applying them to my own project. In practice, it's the application here that really teaches the concept, and I've found that this book is a great starting point as well as reference for grasping these concepts.
The authors have done a great job presenting the material in an easily-readable casual conversation style. Of these discussions, I particularly found their comparisons to the previous versions of the language most satisfying. As AS3 is very different from AS1/2, I appreciate learning what was changed and why.
I can not vouch for the beginner's guide level for this book. I came into this book as an intermediate ActionScript programmer and often found myself skimming over any discussion on the details of some of the programs. For the most part, the code is easy enough to read and get the point, and if I had questions, these were almost always addressed in the discussion. That said, I think this book is ideal for any intermediate programmer looking to make the jump to AS3.
I am aware that there are some errata in this book, and to that extent, I can simply comment that the website is well maintained, code samples there seem accurate. No problems here.
All in all, I would highly recommend Learning ActionScript 3 as a great companion book for anyone looking to get started programming with ActionScript 3.
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If you're new to programming in general, as another reviewer said, "Look elsewhere."
But if you've got a little knowledge of javascript, C++, or even FORTRAN (yikes!), feel free to grab this book and jump in.
I'm in agreement with Lou Costello, regarding the drawbacks of this book. However, there are a lot of good things, too, like great examples and, as noted, the companion website.
If you can get around a pageful of code fairly well, are geek enough to enjoy debugging a few minor typos in the text, and if you're a fairly speedy typist, BUY THIS BOOK! Sit down with it and hammer out a few programs. The code examples are short and clearly demonstrate the concepts being discussed. And they will provide a TON of great ideas for your own projects. If you don't want to type the code examples yourself, download them from the website.
"A Beginner's Guide"? Naw, not really for beginning programmers.
A worthwhile purchase for anyone undaunted by code? Definitely YES.
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A "beginner's guide" will disappoint you if you are completely new to learning ActionScript 3.0. I am sure it is a great book, but not enough for a beginner to grasp the fundamentals. Too sad I read this confession only after I was going through the first chapter.
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