Customer Reviews

ActionScript : The Definitive Guide

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Colin Moock has long been providing tips, tricks, advice and general hand-holding to Flash designers around the world. His detailed, thorough and methodical approach to ActionScript is much more than a collection of tidbits - it's an approach to thinking about scripting, to understand how Flash "thinks" and how the ActionScript language is constructed around that. Lucid enough for non-programmers and sophisticated enough for Flash experts, the Definitive Guide is a must-have for anyone who wants to be using Flash to the fullest.

Let me start by saying, I'd be suprised if this book gets 1 review with less than 5 stars.

I come from a programming background, and have in the past, for whatever reason, found the Flash interface to be confusing and cumbersome. I bought 2 Flash books prior to this one "Teach Yourself Flash Visually" and "Flash 5 Magic With Actionscript". Both books have their merits, but after owning these books, I was still a Flash novice at best.

2 days after buying "Actionscript: The Definitive Guide" I'm feeling like a pro and more or less have Flash at my mercy. :)

If you come from a programming background, this is THE book for you. Even if you don't, I'd can't imagine this book being anything but completely useful.

The title is completely accurate. This is THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE. Buy this book now!

I've been working and experimenting with Flash ActionScript for as far back as the early days of version 4. Although I am (and will forever remain) a Flash designer in essence, I've always been keen on developing my programming skills and pushing the envelope of what Flash can do as far as possible.

Flash 5 ActionScript was a joy to behold, but with sub-standard documentation from Macromedia and a series of unsatisfactory and mostly egocentric books from many independent writers, I, like all ActionScripters, had to rely on scattered online resources, trial and error, and long hours of .FLA dissecting as the best available source of knowledge and training. I'm not saying that it was a waste of time, but certainly not a pretty situation at all.

Enter Colin Moock's ASDG.

Although I was already a long-time frequenter of Moock's site and held much respect for the man's knowledge and approach, I still had doubts about whether that would necessarily warrant a good book author. When ASDG came out, I read all the possible reviews I could find, reviewed my disappointing experience with ActionScript books I've already read, and kept wondering if anyone could attempt the seemingly impossible and succeed.

ASDG arrived at my desk early in the morning four days ago. About 6 hours later, I was seriously wondering if it was worth kicking myself for waiting THIS long before getting it. For once, I'm gonna ask you to blindly believe the hype you see here and everywhere else -- Yes, if you want to save yourself the hassle and become an expert Flash Developer tomorrow instead of "in a year's time", then do honestly get this book now. Get it today - no, this minute.

Not only is ASDG the most comprehensive, complete and unbelievably detailed ActionScript reference on the planet. Its style, tone, approach and structure is so wonderfully thought out, it could well be the first ever technical reference book that could be dubbed "a page turner". Moock attacks the material with huge aplomb and an unwavering sense of seriousness, yet still manages to keep a great sense of humor and throw in those one-liners at just the right time. Where he really triumphs is in his ability to mold a subject of such complicated nature into a clear and simple down-to-earth format, allowing both total beginners and veteran wizards to benefit from it completely and equally. This is truly no easy feat, and Moock pulls it off magnificently.

The scope of this book honestly leaves no ActionScript stone unturned. However, it is not just a better version of Macromedia's ActionScript manuals. ASDG is, above all, a complete course in object oriented programming philosophy and technique. Before giving you a complete language reference in the third part of the book, Moock takes his time in the first two parts and offers readers invaluable advice and recommendations that simply do not exist anywhere else in ActionScript literature. His goal is not just to expose the language in its entirety, but to also help you develop a highly professional and truly effective programming style. His concepts about code centralization, modularity, optimization and function organization are priceless, and seldom does one come across such information, let alone the fact that it exists within the cover of a single book. All this is presented with a generous amount of example code, which itself is so extensively commented, you'd rarely (if ever) get stuck figuring out what is going on. In fact, the code comments are so clear, you get the feeling that Moock's goal was to make your mind process the code as fast as the ActionScript interpreter itself.

All in all, this is a book that redefines perfection. Moock's passion for the subject is astronomical, yet equally astronomical is his modesty, and his will to hold nothing back and hand over the entirety of his ActionScript experience to the reader. The wealth of his knowledge is amazing, but that is beautifully complemented by his incredible skill as a teacher. This makes this book not just a successful technical reference, but also a role model for technical writers everywhere. The end result is that his passion traverses over to you with consummate ease, and no matter what your skill level in ActionScript is, you will find information in this book that will propel you forward faster than you ever thought possible.

Get ASDG, fire up Flash, open up the Actions window, and prepare to bid a final farewell to Normal Mode.

I probably come from a slightly different perspective than others here, for I consider myself to be someone who's already learned the ins-and-outs of ActionScript pretty well. I have a number of Flash related books sitting on my shelf, some helpful, others just recipe books for specific functions. But Moock's "The Definitive Guide" is the one Flash book that will sit on my desk, next to my monitor, ready to rumble.

The reason is this: Macromedia's reference materials are banal, poorly written, and just overly complex. I bought Moock's book just so I could have a decent reference manual, but after reading the first few pages of the introduction, I was hooked. Moock's tone, style, and humor is addictive. He explains seemingly complex topics in clear, down-to-earth style that puts most technical writers to shame.

This is the manual Macromedia should have written. I can only imagine how much time I could have saved from the get-go if this "bible" existed when I first started out. Whether you're an old programming pro, or a graphic designer who shivers when seeing the "Actions" palette, this is for you. You don't need pretty pictures, testimonials, or inspirational interviews with Flash gurus. This is all you'll ever need.

I have been going to Colin Moock's website for at least half a year or so and I was eagerly anticipating his O'reilly book!

At first blush when flipping through the book at the bookstore, I thought that it was only a reference book -- due to the small number of screenshots.

But after I spent more time reading the book, I found that all of the OTHER Flash books were giving me fluffy pictures and ActionScript: The Definitive Guide (ASDG) had the "meat"! Colin hasn't regurgitated stuff from the web/other books. He actually has well-formed opinions based in experience.

For example: I understood the concepts of layers and loadMovie's _levels. But I (mistakenly) assumed they were basically the same. Then with the advent of attachMovie with its own layers, I was confused. ASDG has a great section describing the difference and how they work (or don't work) together. Here, he created non-official classifications: Manually-created Layers (via Flash Authoring Tool), Programmically-created Stacks (via attachMovie et. al.), and LoadMovie (.swf) _levels. (Sorry I don't have the book with me...) This crystallized what the difference was and it was clear to me.

Additionally, the book has been reviewed by the actual Actionscript creators instead of being oozed out of some Flash sweatshop book.

His website has the code presented in the book like XML sockets as well as new tidbits of Flash5 information.

It is a shame that you need a book like ASDG to give you a decent ActionScript reference but I am very THANKFUL that Colin and O'Reilly gave us that reference book and much more.

If you are serious about ActionScript then pick up this book first. Then go pick up those Friend of Ed books or whatever... The funny thing is you might find out that you may not want to...

Although some constructs present in both Javascript and Actionscript (like the arguments object) that managed to go completely unmentioned in the Actionscript Reference Guide that shipped with the boxed version of Flash are discussed, the "Actionscript Fundamentals" section of this book is not a retread of Javascript basics. There's a whole chapter on events and event-handling in Flash, including a comprehensive treatment of movie clip events. The chapter on OOP in Actionscript is the *first* real discussion of object-oriented Actionscript programming that I've seen outside of a few posts to a Flash programming mailing list. The detailed coverage of the stacking order of movies and movie clip instances is priceless - Figure 13-4, "The complete Flash Player movie clip stack" is the clearest visual representation of movie and movie clip instance stacking available.

The "Language Reference" is basically the Actionscript Dictionary from the Flash 5 Actionscript Reference Guide on steroids. In fact, it would almost be worth the full price of the complete book all by itself. Code is sprinkled liberally throughout.

For anyone developing in Flash, this book is simply a must-have.

This has to be the absolute BEST book on programming ANYthing i have ever written- It is INCREDIBLY accessible, both to people with a standard programming background, and others, who have nary a clue what a variable is. Colin Moock's writing is incredible- Very fluid, and very engaging. He knows exactly how to present the wonderful world of ActionScript to those wanting to learn it- From real world examples, to hard core code, he explains and breaks down every line to show you how EVERYthing works- You're never left wondering 'how's that happen?' after a two page script.

Also great about this book is it's intended audience- This book is geared for people with experience in the design/production end of Flash, desiring to better their knowledge (nay, learn EVERY aspect) of ActionScript. The book assumes you already know how to create layers, buttons, movie clip symbols, and the like- A great help considering that most people ready to jump into ActionScript already have a firm knowledge of that end of Flash.

This book is also wonderful in the level at which Moock speaks to you. He is never condescending, and always complete in his explanations. By page 30, you've already developed a simple multiple choice test that scores the test taker. By page 323, you've evolved that test into a dynamically generated quiz that creates its questions from an external question array, and remains infinitely scalable and still scoreable. And that's only half way through the book.

The book is truly a godsend- A have-all for those looking to learn any ActionScripting. It starts off assuming you pretty much don't know any code. However, it moves swiftly, quickly applying the methodologies of AS as you learn them...

All in all, this book is absolutely terrific- Colin Moock is something of a tech book visionary, with a style of writing unseen in the tech world... I would buy any book he writes, simply based on his writing talent expressed in ASDG...

Thanks, Colin, for teaching me the ropes to AS, and proving that great writers in this field do exist...

Also, check this book's website ...

You'll find it's about 90% applicable to the new Flash MX, although I'm having very little trouble using the examples in ASDG with MX...

Enjoy this amazing book!

Absolutely fabulous book. Being a total Action Script novice it is not only teaching me Action Script quickly and thoroughly but also details general programming fundamentals which is a God-send to a non-programmer. I feel once I have finished the book I will be able not only to Action Script at an advanced level but also to apply the theory to learn other languages far more easily and quickly. A well deserved pat-on-the-back to Mr Moock.

It is worth knowing that you need to have a good grasp of the Flash 5 environment and components within it before reading the book i.e. movie-clips, buttons, graphics, etc.

This review will be updated once I have completed the book.

I have read 4 or 5 other books about Flash, in the search for knowledge of how to use Actionscript, the programming language that ships with Macromedia's Flash. Colin Moock is the first writer I have found to take Actionscripting seriously.

And I mean SERIOUSLY; he doesn't treat it as some kind of mysterious and superfluous aspect of Flash that Web Designers will never have the wherewithall to cope with, as the other writers have done. He not only suggests good and well thought out general programming techniques, applicable to most programming languages, but he also picks apart every single aspect of Actionscripting. This is an awesome task; not even the documentation that ships WITH Flash is useful for a real Actionscript programmer. Indeed, it is as though Macromedia somehow didn't WANT us to use Actionscript effectively, or wanted to make money by selling some aftermarket handbook to Actionscript that they never ended up producing, their documentation is so bad.

Anyone who has delved deeply enough in any other Actionscript book has almost certainly lost hope for programming Flash. The other books I've read have been fine for the casual programmer; they touch upon the possibilities of Flash, but never have the guts to go on in and get dirty in it. Do they talk about how to organize your code to make it legible, reusable and object oriented? Do they tell you the execution order of actions when the .swf is actually RUNNING? Do they talk about creating Objects and using those objects effectively (and I don't mean graphical objects). Colin Moock's book does.

This book could singlehandedly create a wave of sharp Actionscript programmers, so that the world at large takes it seriously as a programming language that's capable of great things; not just lukewarm lead-the-mouse-to-the-cheese type computer games. And stupid Anime wanna-be intro movies that anger website customers.

One thing I wanted from the book was a delving into which aspects of Flash movies tax the processing power of the computer most, and what techniques exist to avoid them. We all know alpha-ed out graphics and moving large, intricate pictures slow things down, but I wanted to know the real nittly-gritty on which things do it and how. Admittedly, though, this would be looking a gift horse in the mouth. This book has changed me as a Flash programmer forever.

If you use Flash Actionscript for anything serious, this is THE book to buy. This book covers topics in-serious-depth, that other books only graze, or worse, neglect to cover at all. Not just a collection of "tips and tricks", but more like a comprehensive guide that will allow you to come up with "tips and tricks" all on your own. One of the best programming books I have ever read.