ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns: Object Oriented Programming Techniques (Adobe Developer Library) [Paperback]

William Sanders (Author), Chandima Cumaranatunge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 23, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0596528469 | ISBN-13: 978-0596528461 | Edition: 1st Ed.

Now that ActionScript is reengineered from top to bottom as a true object-oriented programming (OOP) language, reusable design patterns are an ideal way to solve common problems in Flash and Flex applications. If you're an experienced Flash or Flex developer ready to tackle sophisticated programming techniques with ActionScript 3.0, this hands-on introduction to design patterns is the book you need.

ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns takes you step by step through the process, first by explaining how design patterns provide a clear road map for structuring code that actually makes OOP languages easier to learn and use. You then learn about various types of design patterns and construct small abstract examples before trying your hand at building full-fledged working applications outlined in the book. Topics in ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns include:

• Key features of ActionScript 3.0 and why it became an OOP language
• OOP characteristics, such as classes, abstraction, inheritance, and polymorphism
• The benefits of using design patterns
• Creational patterns, including Factory and Singleton patterns
• Structural patterns, including Decorator, Adapter, and Composite patterns
• Behavioral patterns, including Command, Observer, Strategy, and State patterns
• Multiple design patterns, including Model-View-Controller and Symmetric Proxy designs

During the course of the book, you'll work with examples of increasing complexity, such as an e-business application with service options that users can select, an interface for selecting a class of products and individual products in each class, an action game application, a video record and playback application, and many more. Whether you're coming to Flash and Flex from Java or C++, or have experience with ActionScript 2.0, ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns will have you constructing truly elegant solutions for your Flash and Flex applications in no time.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. William Sanders is a Professor of Interactive Information Technology at the University of Hartford. He teaches courses in Flash, ActionScript, Flash Media Server, PHP, C#, SQL, and XHTML among other Internet languages. He has published 44 computer and computer-related books, written software ranging from Basic to Flash Media Server ActionScript and served as a consultant for different computer software companies.

Dr. Chadima Cumaranatunge is an Assistant Professor of Interactive Information Technology at the University of Hartford. He teaches an introduction to the IIT major, covering Flash and some ActionScript, a gaming course using Flash and ActionScript as well as educational technology courses in the Education, Nursing, and Health Professions College. Recently he received a grant to teach an experimental course in robotics.

Product Details

• Paperback: 530 pages
• Publisher: Adobe Developer Library; 1st Ed. edition (July 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596528469
• ISBN-13: 978-0596528461
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 1 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #569,276 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #65 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Graphics & Multimedia > Flash

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

102 of 127 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Worse than uninformative, it's actually mis-leading August 27, 2007

By Lawrence Maccherone Jr.

Format:Paperback

My biggest complaint with this book is that the authors basically just took the design patterns found in Java and C++ and re-implemented them to run under ActionScript 3 (AS3). The list is comprehensive, but it's clear that the authors don't "think in AS3".

In several core ways, AS3 is very different than Java and even more so with respect to C++. For instance, the event model is baked into the language and asynchronous programming is a different style. Also, XML and XPath are native constructs in ActionScript 3, not libraries like they are in other languages. These differences (among others) imply that some of the original Gang of Four (GoF) and Java patterns manifest themselves differently and some patterns don't apply at all. There are a few places in the book where the authors use the built-in events infrastructure and few other native features, but it's clear that they don't think in AS3. It seems like they think in Java.

For instance, the observer pattern is one of the core GoF and HeadFirst patterns. However, the native event capability in AS3 serves the same purpose. Rather than show you how/why to use the native event capability, this book happily shows you an AS3 translation of the GoF/HeadFirst observer pattern and never tells you to use the built-in event capability instead. In contrast, the Joey Lott and Danny Patterson book from Adobe Press, does not have a section on the observer pattern, but there is a chapter on "WORKING WITH EVENTS".

The above problem would be enough for me to recommend that you not buy this book but it gets worse. This book is not even great at teaching you how to think in design patterns. To be fair, neither is the original GoF design patterns book nor is the Lott/Patterson book. The best book for this purpose is the HeadFirst book. Its examples are Java but, the HeadFirst book walks you through application evolution which really makes the case for why the patterns are useful. The HeadFirst book also includes exercises and discussion as well as a quirky style that really make the concepts sink in so you learn to recognize when to use each pattern.

If you are an AS3 programmer who is already familiar with design patterns, just get the Lott/Patterson book. If you are new to design patterns, get the HeadFirst book AND the Lott/Patterson book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great detailed book February 18, 2008

By I. Asseo

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this book when I wanted to pick up on Design Patterns in AS3 (I had little to no experience with DP in AS2), and after I read "Essential ActionScript 3.0". I bought it without reading any reviews because I like O'reilly books, but after I placed the order, I looked at the reviews, and noticed that people were favoring "Advanced ActionScript 3 with Design Patterns" (by Joey Lott and Danny Patterson) -- so I went to the closest B&N and picked it up a day before the O'reilly one arrived, so I was able to compare. I must say that I liked the O'reilly book by FAR over the other one, mostly because of the detailed and extensive examples, descriptive copy and easy-to-follow real-life samples (even though the author referred to Gnarls Barkley as a person at one point.. haha).

So - for someone like me, who knew AS3 (the books assumes you do), but wanted to get into OOP with Design Patters, this was an excellent choice. I would highly recommend it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive resource on Design Patterns for ActionScript 3.0 November 24, 2007

By Peter Elst

Format:Paperback

I've been reading through O'Reilly's "ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns: Object Oriented Programming Techniques" by William Sanders and Chandima Cumaranatunge for the last few weeks and have to say its an incredibly useful resource.

The interesting thing is that this book approaches design patterns in the more traditional sense, not dumbing down on the object-oriented terminology. In that sense it is very approachable to those coming from a Java or C background and are looking for ActionScript 3.0 implementations of specific patterns.

Full review at: [...]