If you have a good background in Computer Science and you are brand new to ActionScript and Flash in general you will be frustrated.

If you want to use Adobe Flex Builder (free for 90 days) and you go by this
book then you'll find that none of the examples in Part I will give you anything, but an idea. If you want to evolve the discussed example you'd have to wait till Part II. Meaning by the time you get to do anything you'll loose any desire to evolve any of the examples from part one.

I prefer to evolve the discussed example so I can remember it.
For example Reader exercise on page 211, tell you to first read Part II of the book to come back and actually do it. That means I have to suspend my ongoing learning (including my desire) and skip ahead. Annoying.

As an interface designer I've been working with Macromedia products since 1992. I feel that regarding the interface aspects of designing and producing a multimedia application the products have just devolved over time. I'm glad that Macromedia is no longer around and hope that Adobe will do better on this aspect.

Actions Script 3 is just the last nail in the coffin of my relationship with this products: how can it be that at this point in time it take this book more than 600 pages to get to a level were you can actually move a movieclip on the stage? Were are the introductions to the readers that come from ActionScript 1 and 2 to at least make it easier for them to get up to speed?

I think that Colin Mook's other books on the subject are good-the Actionscript 2 one was very good- but the amount of work that this one ask of the reader and the level of abstraction of the language truly trumped all my attempts to actually getting anything done.

At more than 900 pages this is a heavy burden to carry around, but no electronic version comes with the book. I had to download one from bittorrent ,even though I bought one here in amazon, just to be able to search thru it and have it always with me. in the end the book is just sitting on a shelve collecting dust, I rather work in actionscript 2 for the time being.

Spend your money elsewhere unless you already work with OOP at a fairly advanced level ( JAVA for instance): you will make a better investment in paying someone to code for you if in a hurry.

Boy how I miss Mtropolis!

I mean in actionscript 3.0 you define variable as var x:int = 10 not var x = 10; that makes me confuse that it will deviate from standard later in book so why to continue. But like the style which is good for beginner who is not good at OOPS...

Excellent. This book was recommended to me by a colleague, and I can't recommend it enough.

As a C# and VB.NET programmer, I had plenty of experience to jump into the middle, but I found myself enjoying the early chapters so much that I decided not just to skim them, but to read them as carefully as the rest of the book. And in doing so, I was rewarded with tidbits of information that I would have otherwise missed.

Anyone who wants a thorough understanding of ActionScript 3.0 would find this book incredibly valuable.

Great book, well explained, very complete on all topics... in my opinion a must for all flash-developers. Even if there might be chapters you might want to jump as an experienced professional, this book is the perfect reference to sit on your desk and help you out when you don't know or don't recall some issue or maybe want to know the most accurate form of doing something.