Essential ActionScript 3.0 (Essential) by Colin Moock
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Book Reviews of Essential ActionScript 3.0 (Essential)
Book Review: In Depth ActionScript Resource
Summary: 5 Stars
After having been tasked with developing object-oriented Flash applications at work, I started off by reading some of the more introductory books on Flash hoping to gain some insight into how ActionScript can be used. The introductory books gave me a basic comfort level with the Flash IDE and how it is used to create multi-media content. I soon found it wasn't enough though. After having trouble with ActionScript development in several areas, I wanted to find books that could help me take my skills to the next level. Thanks to the recommendation of a co-worker, I purchased this book. I am so thankful I did. This book is one of the best books on ActionScript programming. I would also consider it one of the best books on programming that I have seen in my 20+ year career. One thing I want to make clear - it is not for beginners. It is designed for programmers wishing to learn more about the ActionScript language. The rate at which you will learn will be determined by your areas of interest and your past experience.
If you are just starting out in Flash, I would recommend a book like "Flash CS5 The Missing Manual". You'll get a good foundation in many of the core areas of Flash by reading it. It covers things in much more depth than some of the introductory books. When you understand the concepts it presents, you'll be more than ready for this book.
Essential ActionScript 3.0 covers all of the topics it discusses in great detail. When looking for an answer, it may or may not be a quick read but the concept will be explained in detail. Some concepts require more time and effort to learn and the author does not try to cut corners as such. Learning ActionScript is in many ways like learning a new language. If you come from the .NET world like I did, a new way of thinking about programming is required (event based programming in conjunction with visual elements over time). This book has helped me to make the transition.
Overall - if you are an experienced programmer looking to do object-oriented development in ActionScript 3.0, this is the reference you will want to have by your side.
Book Review: The Colin Moock Book
Summary: 5 Stars
This morning at my doorstep was the long awaited Amazon Box containing my copy of O'Reilly Essential Actionscript 3.0 by Colin Moock the longtime waited follow up to what is known in the Flash programing world as The Colin Moock Book, and I'm happy to say it was worth the waiting.
The book it's equally appealing to first time actionscript users and long time actionscript veterans, Mr. Moock has such a way to make translations from a computer based language to a much more accessible and easy to understand form.
ActionScript 3.0 presents perhaps the most substantial upgrade to Flash's programming language ever. The enhancements to ActionScript's performance, feature set, ease of use, cleanliness, and sophistication are simply staggering. Revolutionary improvements abound. Essential ActionScript 3.0 is an update to Essential ActionScript 2.0, once again focusing on the core language and object-oriented programming with some coverage of the Flash Player API. Approximately half of the book focuses on the new features and functionality of ActionScript 3.0, while the rest focuses on changes between the 2 and 3 releases.
The Book is divided in three parts,
Part 1 Actionscript form the ground up.
Where he provides and exhaustive coverage of the core Actionscript language.
Part 2 Display and Interactivity.
Where he explores the techniques for displaying content on screen and responding to input events. ( This is for all of you interactivity lovers ).
Part 3 Applied Actionscript Topics.
In this part the book focuses on Actionscript code-production issues .
To be sincere if you are really a Flash Beginner or a seasoned user of the Flash Technology this book should really be at your desk as a trusty companion in those long coding nights. the book can be found at Amazon or at O'Reilly and don't forget to visit Mr.Moock site.
Cheers and happy reading!!!.
.swfgeek
Book Review: Well beyond the essentials
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been getting deeper into "Essential ActionScript 3.0" and I'm amazed at the thoroughness of this book. I was first introduced to Colin's writing with "ActionScript for Flash MX, the Definitive Guide". I'd just came from two years of teaching Java for Sun Microsystems and loved the way he handled explanations in the book, often he'd even compare AS to Java and go deep in the details. With AS3, we finally have language rivaling Java, and (IMO) a better set of APIs.
The amount of information is stunning, it boggles the mind. Colin covers AS3 in more detail, with better explanations, and a better grasp of the subject than the Adobe documentation. If you are programming in AS3, this book is must. I don't think you could get the most out of AS3 programming without it, or maybe you could but it would take quite a bit longer!
A side-effect of this book is the shear size of it gives you an idea of the depth of the subject matter. AS3 is an object-oriented programming language and framework, not just a scripting language.
I just have two minor criticisms (which by no means affects my recommendation of this book). The first is that he covers a ton of material in the beginning but does not have the reader compile until chapter 7 (page 130). AS3 is so much fun in how easy it makes graphics programming, that I feel he could teach the first six chapters more effectively if he had the user compiling and running examples along the way (even simple examples). My second is one that is probably just my own pet peeve... at the end of each chapter he has a paragraph about the next chapter, it's distracting to me, I'd rather read about the stuff in the next chapter in the next chapter.
This is a well-organized, clearly written book, with great examples throughout. If you are coming to AS3, this book should be within arms reach if not already sitting open on your desk.
Book Review: Wow. Anything less than a 4 star review is from someone you should ignore.
Summary: 5 Stars
I was absolutely shocked when I came to this page and saw that this book had anything less than a 4.5 star average review. To put it simply, this book is THE ActionScript 3 book. Period. If you want to do more than just dabble in ActionScript 3, whether you are a Flash, Flex or Air developer, you simply must own this book. It is full of good, solid, usable information. When he tells you that you should do something a certain way, he backs it up with WHY you should do it this way. A prime example of this is when it comes to datayping your variables and methods. If you are a newbie or basic programmer, this might seem like more work than is needed, but Colin will go on to explain why this extra work is worth it.
Let me put it this way. I came from the design side of things. I realized that to do anything really amazing with Flash, you need to learn how to program. Flash/ActionScript was my introduction to programming. I hadn't programmed in Java or C++ or anything when I started with ActionScript. Thanks to what I've learned from Moock's books (and experience that has backed up what Moock has said), I've turned into a pretty solid developer. When I read other books on ActionScript and especially ActionScript 3, I now see so many errors and problems with the way that the authors do things, thanks to the fact that Colin Moock was my introduction to how things should be done.
I'm not saying this is the only ActionScript 3 book or instruction you'll ever need. Hardly. But this book is the foundation you should be building on.
To put things in no uncertain terms, if you want to do more than dabble with ActionScript 3, this is a must have book in your library. If you simply want to add some scripts to your timeline-based Flash projects, you should probably avoid ActionScript 3 altogether and stick with ActionScript 2.
Book Review: Required Reading For ActionScript Developers
Summary: 5 Stars
Essential ActionScript 3.0 by Colin Moock is absolutely required reading for all ActionScript developers out there in the cyberworld. With over 900 pages and 31 chapters, content is laid out in a logical, clear manner. From the basics of data structures, classes and conditional loops to more advanced topics like event processing and interfaces, this guide is must reading. For every programming language out there, there is some book that becomes THE reference material for said language and this is that book. With hundreds of more pages than the previous edition and coverage of Flex 2 development, this book top to bottom is fantastic!!
Chapter Listing
Part I. ActionScript Basics
1. Core Concepts
2. Conditionals and Loops
3. Instance Methods Revisited
4. Static Variables and Static Methods
5. Functions
6. Inheritance
7. Compiling and Running a Program
8. Datatypes and Type Checking
9. Interfaces
10. Statements and Operators
11. Arrays
12. Events and Event Handling
13. Exceptions and Error Handling
14. Garbage Collection
15. Dynamic ActionScript
16. Scope
17. Namespaces
18. XML and E4X
19. Flash Player Security Restrictions
Part II. Display And Interactivity
20. The Display API and the Display List
21. Events and Display Hierarchies
22. Interactivity
23. Screen Updates
24. Programmatic Animation
25. Drawing with Vectors
26. Bitmap Programming
27. Text Display and Input
28. Loading External Display Assets
Part III. Aapplied Actionscript Topics
29. ActionScript and the Flash Authoring Tool
30. A Minimal MXML Application
31. Distributing a Class Library
***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED