Customer Reviews

AdvancED Flex Application Development: Building Rich Media X

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Is it worth buying? Yes, I think so. It's got something for everyone. But especially if you manage a user's group, are dealing with aggregating media and content, or doing something that relies on advertising and traffic. While they do not cover eCommerce in this book specifically, this is a really plus if you are building an eCommerce site in Flex. It outlines how to enhance a Flex-based online store. It covers SEO, OpenAds, and how to monetize your site. That information alone is worth the price of the book. RIAs are great, RIAs that make business better are a real step beyond.

This book really puts the "plan" in pre-planning. I really love the way the developers take you through the process of building applications, especially when deciding on the different technologies to use. The choices they make and what they base it on is extraordinary. Not only does the book teach you cool stuff about Flex, but because they are a real development company they bring you into their world, sharing their tasks and how to overcome them. The second chapter was a goldmine for me as it revealed a lot of helpful tools for development. The book really shows you how to use Flex for advanced applications, and how to effectively plan it out for success.

I have mixed feelings about this book which I got because it was one of the first to cover Flex 3.

I think it is a bit weak on the pure Flex bit - I just can't see someone actually learning Flex out of it, though they will get a pretty good feel for what Flex does. It presents just enough information to explain their application, the RMX, no more. The coding examples are also somewhat hard to follow, with code being all over the place. Yes, it might be real-life production/business code but that doesn't mean that it is automatically great for teaching. Simpler, more illustrative, tighter code would have been better.

On the other hand, the book does a much better job at presenting the big picture of a Flex website and how all the parts fit together, almost at a business/planning level. The wireframe chapters and how to integrate ads are great. Also, though I don't use PHP+Drupal, which they use as a backend, I definitely came away with a confirmation that Flex wasn't tied to particular backend server technologies. If you do use PHP and Drupal, you will get more value out of it for sure.

All in all, a 3.5/5 book.

I bought this book because the video review by the author refers to using flex with php and mysql. Unfortunately, when you do get to the chapter on php and mysql, the author includes a note telling the reader that delving too deeply into php and mysql is outside the scope of this book. It's not that there's not a php/mysql example, rather if your a php mysql programmer, the example is of little help in learning to integrate flex with php/mysql. For instance the author uses an earlier version of amfphp for the database integration, although he refers to the newer version. This is not to mention that there is very little information on the subject of amfphp.
This certainly is not a book for the beginner getting into Flex and if your a php mysql programmer whose looking for a way to blend your current skills with flex, look somewhere else.

i have been using this book for a couple of weeks now...oh my...its Excellent...there is alot to learn from this book BUT you have to have had some flex experience. even though every topic is approached as if you have no prior knowledge of it, their advancements(topic) builds up rapidly. if you want to take ur flex skills to advanced..this is a must get. definitely an eye opener.

K

CAST FROM A NEW MOLD

Early in the history of the Adobe Flash Platform it was possible to read all of the great books on the subject because there were so few notable titles. However, now with the incredible popularity of Flash CS3 and Flex 3, the industry is flooded with training materials. While decent, most are rehashes of the introductory 'Welcome to Flash/Flex' perspective giving a broad overview without taking the bold position to teach pertinent topics and to teach them correctly.

INTRODUCTION

This book is a great well rounded resource, perfect for anyone serious about Flex application development. This book 1) features a blend of various learning styles, 2) it offers the right amount of depth to tease & inspire, as well as actually teach, but 3) it is not for all audiences (and I like that).

LEARNING STYLES

With technical literature the tone and style ranges from the dry dictionary-like reference to the micro-task-oriented recipe books. There is not often an editorial voice giving industry insight, technological context, and workflow experience. That is one of my favorite aspects of this AdvanceED book, it gives all that and more. There is a historical introduction to application development, deep coverage on the many steps of the software development lifecycle through the real-world application of techniques on the authors' RMX application project, as well as some relevant, isolated (albeit kinda' non sequitured) programming recipes that can be plucked from the greater project shown in the book and applied in your own projects with ease. The multiple-learning styles is refreshing for those who have been disappointed by reading many other books. Most of the audience for this book has surely done some reading of tech texts and should appreciate the change of pace.


DEPTH AND SCOPE

The book lacks the breadth of a thick reference book, but what subjects it covers it covers deeply. Don't expect to be able to crack open a chapter and a fresh Flex project in your Flex builder and get typing. The book doesn't work like that. Its more of a casual read in many parts, fit for any time you get away from your computer. Fit even for some of the less-technical personnel on your team who would like to see the big picture of application development. Project managers, executives, and any creative folks with an eye toward project leadership will get great value from the book, but of course the intended audience is developers.


INTENDED AUDIENCE

Perhaps rather than titling this section 'Intended' Audience, I should say suggested-by-me audience. Part of the appeal of this book and what sets it apart from what else is available on the subject is its unique perspective. The book focuses on building one application, RMX. This application has a specific purpose and a different one than any we'd likely make as the readers, but one that has components that are immediately relevant to our every day app-developer-lives; Styling, UI/UX + Navigation Design, Forms, Video (that continues to be a big topic these days),

It goes on to feature some rare gems such as Advertising (specifically for Flex) and SEO (specifically for Flex). You just don't find those covered anywhere else.

CONCLUSION

This book is a refreshing read and the only must-read on my Flash bookshelf from this publisher.

Length:: 1:35 Mins

AdvancED Flex Application Development: Building Rich Media X (Advanced)

This book does a very good job of describing the decision making processes that go into using a particular piece of technology with Flex and how they apply this to their application which is actually titled "Rich Media X" (a blog/forum/user group app). If you want to see how or if you can integrate Drupal and Flex, this is probably a pretty good book. If you are looking for a book on a particular Flex framework like Cairngorm or what have you, it is not.

What I think people are finding deceptive about this book is the "Flex Application Development", the AdvancED label, and the idea that you will be able to layout a Flex application from start to finish (and you will, just most likely not the application you had in mind).

This book I see as being a great book to understand what is possible with Flex. I do not see this as a great book to learn Flex coding practices, coding frameworks, and anything else one might assume would be present in something titled Flex Application Development.

If you go into this looking for meat and potatoes and coming away from this book full of Flex YOU WILL be disappointed. 5 stars for what it covers well, but take 1 star away for hungering for more.

This is a great book to learn how to build Flex Rich Internet Application. It is easy to read and follow, and it also includes SEO omptimization techniques for higher ranking in SEO results. Highly recommended!

The only problem with this book is that it's not AdvancED as they claim in the title. It's aimed for beginners who never worked on a bigger projects before. The way the authors approached building of RMX application is pretty cool, and newbies will learn something from them. There isn't any depth in the book though, everything they touch upon, and they touch many many things, is pretty shallow. Be it Project Management, Action Script, Flex, MXML, Skinning, SEO, it's all pretty basic. But as I said, I recommend it to anyone who wants to start doing Flex apps professionally.