Customer Reviews

ActionScripting in Flash

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Right off the bat, I think this is one of the best, if not the best book on Actionscripting I've seen. Phillip Kermer has a true gift for teaching. Although he obviously has expertise and mastery of the subject matter, he doesn't forget the overall purpose of his book, which is to educate in a clear and easy to grasp manner.

This book serves not only as a "good read", but as a reference book. It's one you can go back to again and again. Though the book states that it is not intended for the pure "newbie", I feel that it's written in such a user-friendly way as to be appreciated by all levels of Flash development.

Starting with a review of the basics, he quickly gets you right into programming with practical applications suited to the real world. There is a definite emphasis on grasping concepts and "getting it". The sections on creating homemade functions is going to cut your workload by replacing redundant code and streamlining your projects. He'll have you thinking like a programmer in no time, and for all the right reasons.

There are countless tips along the way which include optimizing file size,using good style and including comments to cover your back, integrating Flash with external applications and much more.

His use of anology to explain complex subjects makes sense to those like me with limited experience in programming. The workshop sections give you enough to get you started without getting lost in the details. Finally an in-depth book on Actionscripting in plain English. I highly recommend this book.

I own about 20 books on Flash or Actionscripting and this one is at the top of the list. It's the most useful and clearly written book on the subject that I've found.

Just so review readers know where I'm coming from, I'm one of those "Actionscript gurus" who speaks, teaches, researches, freelances, and writes about very advanced Actionscript topics. I usually don't even look at beginner-level books even though they send me copies, but I received a recommendation to read through "Actionscripting in Flash". For two years, I've heard the same question on newsgroups, forums, websites, email, etc.: "I don't know any programming, but I want to get into Actionscript. Can you show me how to use Flash and Actionscript?"
Usually, I have to point newbies to my list of favorite tutorials scattered throughout the web, and write them a list of concepts to learn in the proper order. The most difficult concept to relate is that Flash programming is more than traditional programming, and requires a somewhat different perspective on the significance of scripting languages in a vector-based animation environment. There's a lot of essential knowledge scattered among various sites and books.
If anyone asks me again (and they will), now I've got a simple answer... get Kerman's book and call me a few weeks later :-) I've never posted any reviews on Amazon before, but I wanted to post a professional's review to reaffirm that this is a very thoughtfully prepared text that you will appreciate within the first two chapters and on through the last page. Kerman's hard work definitely pays off in the overall quality of his explanations.

The first half of the book teaches all the important subjects in Actionscript, while the second half makes you apply what you learned in real-world projects. Either half would be worth the price of this book, IMHO, and the progression of difficulty smooths out the erratic learning curve faced by Actionscript newcomers.
Show me an author who devotes a whole chapter to DEBUGGING (not always easy in Flash) and I'll show you someone who really cares about quality. This book is a breath of fresh air to the introductory levels of Flash. -S

It has taught me Actionscript.

I finished Phillip Kerman's "Learn Flash 5 in 24 Hours" a few weeks ago, gave it raving reviews, and then started this one. At first, I didn't know it was the same author, but the foreward gave me a nice surprise.

This guy is a great teacher. Don't underestimate this review. I hold him in the same regard as Danny Goodman and his remarkable books on JavaScript. Kerman is a natural.

I have about 20 Flash 5 books, and the best ActionScript books are "ActionScripting in Flash" and the Oreilly "Definitive Guide". Get the rest of the info and tutorials on the Web. Once you've read these books, and practice every day, you'll be making great interactive Flash projects in no time. I promise.

Yes I know, five stars is a bold statement. So why does ActionScripting in Flash deserve it? The first star goes to Phillip for keeping to the subject. I've seen other books promising this and delivering that, not so here. The second star goes to the structure of the content. There is a natural flow in the book that kept me on track. The third star is for Phillips pedagogical and engaging tone. The fourth star is for the price. Yes it's extremely good value for money! And the fifth star is simply for covering everything about all the exciting and complex sides of actionscript that noone else has been able to explain in a book before! There is simply nothing missing here in my opinion. Yes there could have been a CD, but you don't need it (there is an accompanying site). This book is not for the beginner or the designer looking for design tips. This one is for all the budding flash gurus like me out there!

As an artist fluent with Flash's drawing tools, I searched left and right to find a book that could explain programming/actionscripting to someone with no prior training. This book provided that link. It seems most flash books rehash the same basic drawing fundementals, how to paint a fill, draw a button, etc, And very few deliver the real goods on actionscripting. This book explains everything down to the detail necessary to really understand programming. Why is this in parenthesis? Why does a bracket or underscore go here? Even the Help files that come with the program admit they do not teach the theory of programming. Kerman does an excellent job dissecting code statements, giving clear examples, all laid out very clean. This book does not waste time with pretty pictures and full color gradient snapshots. There is no color at all in it, just good, clean code. It is a big read with the last half divided into workshops aimed at pulling off beyond beginner script techniques, so it might not appeal to everyone, but for the artist looking to understand code or the beginning programmer wanting to reach the next level-it is great.

Out of my 12 books about flash 5.0 and Actionscript NOBODY explains programming with ActionScript better than Phillip. Very useful exercises that I can copy right out of the book and apply directly to my applications. Good coverage of XML too. Recommended 100% - and look at the price !

If you want to learn actionscripts properly, this is the right book for you. The book is very systematic and teaches the reader step by step on how to approach Flash 5 actionscripts. It begins with a review and discussion of programming concepts, issues and then go into a more in-depth of each topic. This book will not show how to do all the "cool" stuff like a lot of other Flash books, but remember to do all the "cool" interactive stuff in Flash 5, you've got to have a firm grasp on programming concepts. The topics covered in this book are: (1) Basic Programming - Terminology, Events, Data Types and variables, (2) Programming Structures - Statements, Expressions, Operators, Loop, conditional statements, (3) Debugging, (4) movie clip object, (5) functions, (6) selecting text, trapping keys and Manipulating STrings, (7) Arrays, (8) Objects, (9) Homemade objects, (10) Smart Clips, (11) Interface with External Data...and many many more workshops. Needless to say, this book is an invaluable tool for becoming good in Flash 5 actionscripts! Good luck and enjoy!

Dont wait to buy this book :

1)If you dont know anything about Object Oriented Programming and want to learn it without C++ or Java. 2)If you already know OOP but want to apply your knowledge in Flash. 3)If you believe that ActionScript is more than just "GotoAndPlay" or "Stop" commands. 4) If you want to learn XML. 5)If you want to creat some real complex Flash animation using ActionScript and XML.

Belive me,you cant learn ActionScript in a better way than this Book!!

Wow!

This is a GREAT book for the graphic/web designer wanting to learn actionscript. I own or have read many others that don't cover the basics or the thought processes behind writing in a scripting language. Most books on this topic started out over my head with little explaination and were accompanied by buggy and/or old code. With clear and consice writing, Philip uses the first half of the book to fully explain programming concepts as they pertain to scripting in Flash, and then follows up with examples of how to implement these ideas.

I can't say enough about how far this book has taken me into the scripting world. Kudos to Kerman.

This is the first book I've read by Phillip Kerman. I will now go hunt for his next one - or all of them, to be honest! This book doesn't learn You any Flash or design, but it gives You everything You need to know about actionscripting. Tastefully presented and easy to read. If You are the perfect object oriented programmer - You could skip some chapters, but if You're just an "almost" perfect programer in object oriented languages - this book will give You the last skills that makes You perfect! Yes it really does not only cover actionscripting - it gives You a visual and very educational lesson in object oriented programing.