Macromedia Flash MX ActionScripting: Advanced Training from the Source [Paperback]

Derek Franklin (Author), Jobe Makar (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201770229 | ISBN-13: 978-0201770223 | Publication Date: May 4, 2002

Macromedia Flash MX ActionScripting: Advanced Training From the Source teaches readers ActionScript using a hands-on, project-based approach. This book will be different in several ways. Instead of just explaining how scripting works, explains scripting by translating real-life activities into scripts, so that users can begin to see the association of how programming and scripting is something they instinctively already know how to do. Readers will be shown many methodologies and techniques for building nearly thirty real-life Flash ActionScript projects, including sample games, wireless applications, Web sites, and more, enabling them to work faster and more efficiently. The companion CD-ROM contains all project files and images necessary for each project in the book.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

With its high-impact design and low-bandwidth requirements, Macromedia Flash has become the industry standard for hundreds of thousands of Web developers worldwide. With the release of version 5, Flash continues to evolve past its origins as an animation tool. With its new, incredibly powerful scripting engine, as well as its ability to tie in with application servers and XML, it has become a development platform in its own right. ActionScript is the scripting language used to control animation and multimedia within Flash. Macromedia Flash ActionScripting: Advanced Training from the Source shows readers how to translate real-world applications using Flash into scripts that they can use and modify as their understanding of Flash programming expands. Users will learn many methodologies and techniques for putting Flash projects together, enabling them to work faster and more efficiently. Projects include games, wireless applications, Web interfaces, and more.

About the Author

Derek Franklin is director of derekfranklin.com, a resource dedicated to helping developers worldwide get the most out of Flash. He's been involved in Web design since 1995, having served as a multimedia director for a nationally recognized media company, while creating Flash instructional materials in his spare time. Derek has won numereous design awards for his work, and his teaching materials have been translated into nine languages. He is the author of Flash 5! Creative Web Animation by Peachpit Press. Derek and his family live in Bloomington, Indiana.

Jobe Makar, who specializes in games and applications programming, holds a B.S. in Physics from East Carolina University and an M.S. in Physics from North Carolina State University. He is co-founder of Electrotank, Inc., where he is Senior Game Developer. He is also Senior Interactivity Developer at Allen Interactions, a computer-based training firm. And he is a contributing author to Macromedia Flash: Super Samurai by Peachpit Press.

Product Details

• Paperback: 616 pages
• Publisher: Macromedia Press (May 4, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201770229
• ISBN-13: 978-0201770223
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,355,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Flash MX. Advanced...a wise investment., June 4, 2002

By 

josiah williams (Allentown, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macromedia Flash MX ActionScripting: Advanced Training from the Source (Paperback)

I've bought several books on Actionscripting, including several from Friends Of Ed. Most of them are confusing and poorly edited, riddled with grammar and spelling errors and have you hand-typing pages and pages of code without proper explanation.

However, this isn't the case with FLASH MX ADVANCED by Derek Franklin and Jobe Makar. Each lesson clearly explains what you are doing and why. First they explain in correct English what we want the code to do, then they show us in bright, bold blue font how it translates into Actionscripting. The tutorials included on the CD guide you through each lesson step by step, explaning the code as you go along.

There are several very practical applications that you could modify and apply for your own use. This book has some great tricks on loading dynamic mp3's and adjusting the volume on dynamically loaded sounds. It also guides you through several other new features to FlashMX.

I was afraid of Actionscripting until I purchased this book. Leafing through the pages, this book held my hand as I experienced the most advanced scripting I have ever done. This book is for you if you are an avid flash user that has been using Flash for 2 years or so but haven't really caught on to all the extra Actionscripting that ships with each new version.
I highly recommend this book above all other FlashMX books out there on actionscripting....

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Training, yes; Learning, less, February 18, 2003

By 

A. M. Litz (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Macromedia Flash MX ActionScripting: Advanced Training from the Source (Paperback)

Let me start off by stating that I wanted to give this book a 3.5 star rating, but that option is unavailable.

The lessons in this book are nicely written and well laid out. They are presented in a straight-forward, easy to understand format, and can be quite helpful to those without actionscripting experience.

That having been said, however, I found the book lacking in execution. For one, the lessons, although helpful, do not really require you to learn actionscript, just rewrite it from the book. While this can help with a basic understanding of scripting, there are no exercises in the book that require putting that understanding into a practical application.

Also, while working through the exercises, I noticed a number of little, yet crucial, mistakes in the scripts. These mistakes could result in major frustration to someone without the knowledge to find and correct them.

Finally, why does a book such as this not have a comprehensive appendix of actionscript commands(event handlers, standard functions, etc.)? For a book specifically about actionscripting, too many times does the phrase "beyond the scope of this book" occur.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything I Ever Wanted To Know About ActionScript, August 19, 2002

By 

James G. Mcneill "AZ Animator" (Glendale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Macromedia Flash MX ActionScripting: Advanced Training from the Source (Paperback)

When I upgraded to Flash MX, I made a resolution to learn how to use ActionScript (which I'd been deathly afraid of since Flash 4), so I went out and bought the biggest "How-To" book I could find and worked through all the exercises.

I was very impressed by the capabilities of ActionScript the book's projects demonstrated, but felt like I was working more on my typing skills than developing any true understanding of the subject. The lessons always boiled down to "type this here, now type this there, now save and test your movie. Isn't that great?!" Yes, the final product WAS great, but I couldn't always figure out the reasoning behind the steps I was following.

My frustration led me back to the bookstore, to look for a book that would tell me something about WHY to use ActionScript rather than simply HOW to use it. I picked up a copy of Macromedia Flash MX ActionScripting: Advanced Training From The Source, read the Introduction, glanced through some of the exercises and bought it there on the spot. As the authors state in the Introduction, every single line of code in the book is explained, describing exactly what's going on every step of the way. I'm about halfway through it now and already have such an improved understanding of ActionScript that I've been able to play around with the projects in the book, adding my own code as well as altering the code that's already there. The book not only gives you an increased understanding of the logic and reasoning behind ActionScript, but also some illuminating insights into the way Flash uses and interprets that code "behind the scenes".

Another advantage to buying the book is the co-author's on-line resource, ... In addition to some great Flash info, it also has a comprehensive errata list of the typos that have been found in the book itself (which are surprisingly few, given the amount of info involved.) There's nothing more frustrating than spending an hour working your way through a lesson in one of these books, only to end up with a final product that doesn't do what it's supposed to do because you correctly copied a typo from the text. If you're dealing with a book with no or poor on-line support, you could just be left to wonder what went wrong, but having a dependable resource for troubleshooting those kinds of problems is a real plus.

If you want to know what's really going on with ActionScript, this is the book for you!