Foundation ActionScript [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Sham Bhangal (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
One of the best tutorials available for designers and nonprogrammers, Foundation ActionScript is perhaps one of the finest introductory programming books ever written--but programmers and Flash experts will be bored stiff by the baby-step teaching methods this book exhibits.

The book assumes the you have no knowledge of programming concepts going in, and introduces the basics using simple, real-world examples to show you that programming is nothing more than breaking down what you want to do into the smallest elements. Author Sham Bhangal takes the example of making tea and sections it out into its composite elements. Then, he writes a pseudoprogram that makes tea, using very clear, accessible, and, above all, comforting language. If you've always been nervous about the seemingly scary idea of "programming," then Foundation ActionScript will reassure you.

Bhangal then brings this idea of simplicity into ActionScript programming, at first showing you how to accomplish simple tasks--like stopping a ball from zipping across the screen--and then gradually turning up the heat as he begins to probe ActionScript's more advanced functions.

The key word here is "gradually," since fundamental programming ideas like variables aren't even mentioned until chapter 6. This gradual process works marvelously in some ways, since Bhangal goes over each topic so thoroughly and exhaustively that you never lose track of what you're learning--and the repetitiveness pays off not only in spades, but also in hearts, clubs, and diamonds.

Suffice it to say that when I started to write this review, I originally said that the book didn't really do anything all that complex because the most complex project was a full-fledged Space Invaders-style game, complete with object-oriented programming, sprite manipulation, and reusable code. Only in retrospect did it occur to me that this involved some fairly heavy-duty tweaking for a beginner--but Foundation ActionScript makes it all seem so easy that programming a video game, albeit a simple one, seemed a trivial thing to do.

Still, there are some definite problems. For one thing, if you are a programmer or understand these concepts, the glacial pace at which the book retreads familiar (to you, at least) ground will be maddening. For another thing, it's very nice to program video games, but one of the things that this book lacks is examples from real-world Web pages. A lot of the examples can be used in real Web sites, but there are also a lot of throwaway examples that are simply used as teaching tools--things like little games, the inputting of passwords, overly-simple bouncing ball loops, and so on. Although this focus provides a lot of basic programming skills, it doesn't really give designers the methodology they need to translate grand topics into simple mathematics. It might have been nice for the book to take some really cool effects from live sites and then deconstruct them to show you how they work, thus giving you the tools you need.

But if you're a novice, there really is nothing better available to teach you Flash scripting and what you use it for. It's easy, it's informative, and it's even a darn fun read--by computer book standards, that is. Highly recommended. --William Steinmetz

Review
You'll be amazed at the Flash you'll be producing after reading this book. I can't recommend it highly enough! -- www.pixelsurgeon.com

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Product Details

• Paperback: 500 pages
• Publisher: Peer Information Inc.; illustrated edition edition (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1903450322
• ISBN-13: 978-1903450321
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,350,738 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not advanced, although very good, February 2, 2001

By	Andrew Otwell "heyotwell" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

There's a lot of great stuff here for the beginning programmer. If you are truly intimidated by programming ActionScript, this would be a great start. For an advanced programmer, or someone familiar with other programming languages, this book does lack a bit. The author, while he certainly does use Flash 5 syntax and examples, tends to program in the old-school Flash 4 way--using transparent buttons, etc. Flash 5 allows the programmer to do event-driven programming (like Java and Director do) which lends itself to learning (and doing) good object-oriented programming. The author of this book virtually ignores the new event handlers in Flash 5 (onClipEvent(load, enterframe, etc)), preferring to build confusing work-arounds like we had to do in Flash 4.

Although I'm not a huge fan of Flash 4-5 Magic books by David Emberton (they tend to walk you through examples without really explaining _why_ you're doing things), those do seem to make better use of the new Flash syntax. If you can afford it, get both this book and Flash Magic for a full lesson in ActionScripting.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Maybe good for ABSOLUTE beginners, February 1, 2001

By	Unknown, Captain (All Over) - See all my reviews

I read the reviews and thought this was going to be the "magic bullet" for Flash 5.0 actionscripting. I was sorely disappointed, this book would be great for someone who has zero or very little knowledge of Actionscripting. If however you have a decent understanding of the way Actionscripting is utilized then this book is not for you. It barely brushes the surface of the vast complexities that Actionscripting has become in Flash 5.0. This a a good book for someone who has no knowledge of the subject, but if you are looking for that next step in expanding your Actionscripting talents don't waste your time or money with this one.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to Grasp the "Foundations", February 6, 2001

By	"groove_papa" (Tulsa, OK United States) - See all my reviews

While this book doesn't quite dive into advanced topics such as creating 3d engines or complex math formulas in actionscript, it does a GREAT job of introducing actionscript to someone who is already competent in Flash.

I've had a good amount of Flash experience, designed a few sites in all-flash movies...but never did much with Actionscript. This book claimed to be a good startup...and it is!

If you know some Flash and have been just a bit confused about understanding levels, movie clip timelines, and complex actions and how you can make them all fit together, this is the book for you!