Customer Reviews

ActionScript 3.0 Bible

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a fantastic book on AS3. If you are doing any type of major AS3 development then this books is a gem. It goes through the basics of variable declaration to classes and how the AS3 Environment uses them build RIA and flash content.
I also bought Essential ActionScript 3.0 (Essential) with this one to make sure that I get two explanations on each element of the language. When comparing both of them, The bible is good in some areas of explanation and the Essentials is vice versa.
Overall if you are going to be working with the AS3 language this is a impressive book to have in your arsenal for understanding and implementation of the language.

The ActionScript 2.0 Bible, in my opinion, was indispensable; so I figured that this book, too, would be of considerable value in the migration from AS2 to AS3. I was disappointed by the examples, which were often fragmented or incomplete, and by the general organization of each chapter. Rarely were methods and properties for featured classes listed entirely in one location; this made quick reference difficult. Because there are many significant differences between AS2 and AS3, this book would benefit from more explicit and practical, as opposed to hypothetical and conceptual, examples (especially in the Class chapters). That said, I am now up and running in 3.0; but I often found myself working through the help files in the CS3 software to try to figure out how to implement the instructions in the book. As a teacher, and presently student, of technology, I would suggest comparing a few texts before buying this one. It's definitely not a waste of money if you have prior AS experience, but you may find a better value elsewhere.

I used this book extensively while learning Flash CS3 and CS4. I did not do much designing, mostly coding. I found this book to be exceptionally helpful as a developer with no background in any of the ECMA family script languages. I continued to use the book regularly over a period of two years and usually found it to be a great refresher or knowledge extender of the topic I needed that day. I highly recommend it. Although it is extensive, don't expect the book contain literally everything. It doesn't go into depth on the components (as I had wished) and one or two other times I came up empty, but I still don't think that demotes it to 4 stars. I found it to be the best laid out of all the ActionScript books I reviewed (and it pairs well with Moock). It is definitely my go-to-first book for ActionScript. If you are an absolute guru, maybe you don't need it (or any other book), otherwise get it and start reading and developing!

Contradictory to most "Bibles" this book is not a thorough reference guide, meaning it does not break down every function or object with all of the property and methods. However, the examples are very clear and it's an excellent book to learn what you need and why you want it about Actionscript. I really enjoyed the simple explanations and for each topic I think just the right amount of information is presented without overloading you or leaving wondering what you're missing. Given that there is a wealth of detailed "reference" material at Adobe's site and built into Flex Builder, I think this book is an excellent complement to those materials. I recommend this book to anyone with a little programming experience looking to add ActionScript to their knowledgebase.

Adobe's ActionScript 3 has many things in common with regular compiled languages, with a specialized focus on the Flash player and engine. Here's a good desk reference to avoid drowning in the online help that often times is a hindrance for here and now how to use it information.

One of Einstein's famous quotes is about not bothering to remember what can be looked up. There may not have been as much information that could be easily looked up in those days, while today we're inundated with it at every turn. This is particularly true for Adobe's ActionScript 3, the latest outgrowth of the Flash engine's programming tool. There's so much there, both from the precursor versions and the new, really object oriented restructuring that keeping track of it all may well be impossible.

This is particularly so for someone just starting to use ActionScript, with trying to get usage information from the online help is like attempting to get a drink of water from a fire hydrant. Plus, in today's heterogeneous software environments, mind share has to compete with other programming and scripting approaches and architectures, most having little connection with the others.

This book's first chapter is also the largest one, and deals with ActionScript 3's basics. It is followed by the second largest chapter, which deals with the object structure of this latest version of the language. With these first two chapters provide the basis for the remaining chapters and sections, each illuminated with code snippets that illuminate a usage or concept in concrete terms. Well written and a surprisingly easy read for such a technical subject, it provides more immediate how to information than can typically be found in online help, which itself is seldom noted for clarity of thought or ease of expression.

Highly recommended for anyone new to ActionScript, and a good aide memoire to seasoned professionals.

The book's 687 pages are organized into 37 chapters, grouped into in ten functional sections. With a rich index and code samples on the Wiley web site.

Anyone wanting to learn ActionScript 3.0 or just have an amazing reference book for ActionScript 3.0 should own this book. It's so easy to read through and it's definitely a book that allows you to be selective with which parts you read and which parts you skip over. I would recommend this book for beginners all the way up to experts.

It's surprising that nobody has published a simple language reference for ActionScript 3.0 yet; until that day comes, this book is my most often visited reference when programming Flash projects.

Great job by the authors.

My only complaint: The examples are good, but would be of much more use if they also included classpaths (e.g., the correct "import" statement) within them. As they are, I often find myself searching Adobe's online references for the correct package/class to import before trying them out.

I am an experienced programmer who knows Java very well, and I was looking to learn ActionScript 3 so as to be able to build Flash applications. I found this book very easy to read and to understand, and the examples easy to put in practice. Sure, there are a few errors here and there (including in the code, which may confound a truly inexperienced programmer, but also make him think a bit to find the errors... a good exercise), but the overall tone is nice. I took my time, going through about one chapter a day (having other things to do as well), so I finished the book in about a month. Someone dedicated can probably read the whole book and play with all the examples in about a week. I especially liked the fact that the book introduces the reader to almost all Flash APIs: graphics, animation, user interface, XML parsing, file management, networking, image processing, printing, JavaScript interaction, etc. It does not go in depth into most APIs, but by the time you're done reading the book, you have a great overall picture of what you can do with Flash, and you can now explore the APIs in depth by yourself to build more complex projects (using the very comprehensive integrated help that comes with Flash CS3 Professional). You know where to look. I took notes while reading the book every time I learned a new concept, and now I use a highlighter to cross individual notes out as I put the concept in practice into my code and memorize it for good. I hope to have crossed out all my notes in the coming weeks. Anyway, one month after having finished the book, I consider myself quite familiar with ActionScript 3, and I have been writing some good code. So I would say that I am very happy that I purchased this book.

Took a class in Flash with this book at a community college.

The book was great, but the class was dreadful.

I wouldn't recommend Flash if you don't understand the math (if you are creating complex video games, maybe) and coding required. If you are familiar with Flash (or can understand it to an extent), ActionScript Bible is a decent reference.

It is not in color (B&W), except for the cover. (Printed in soy ink, unlike most newspapers and magazines.)

This is for CS3 (which I have). Good luck coding! (Meanwhile, learn the basics beforehand. Each version gets better.)

The Flash Actionscript 3 Bible appears, like many Bible books, to have just about everything you need to know about a given topic. This book on the other hand seems more like a introduction to Actionscript 3 and is not very exhaustive with the programming language. There are many instances where it gives a mention of a class or method, then tells you to just use the Adobe help to find out more about it.

It gives a good overview of how Actionscript has changed since version 2, pointing out most of the differences. It gives a good foundation for learning the language as an object oriented language. When it starts breaking out and getting into the different classes, it falls short of being very informative. I generally had to end up on actionscript sites or on Adobe help understanding many of the classes do.

The book is pretty well written explaining and teaching the language. I just wish I could use it more as a reference book than a "getting started" type of book.