Foundation ActionScript for Flash MX
 


Foundation ActionScript for Flash MX

by friends of ED

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Label:friends of ED
Pages:500
Binding:Paperback
Publication Date:2003-07-01
Published By:friends of ED
ASIN:1590591666
Category:Book

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Editorial Reviews and Product Descriptions

Product Description

With the release of Flash MX, scripting in Flash has moved from being a desirable asset to an essential skill in the world of web design. ActionScript is, quite simply, the center of power in Flash, and it's no surprise that most of the advances in Flash MX are Script-centric. Flash is a design tool, and ActionScript can easily scare designers. This book is for anyone who has ever looked in awe at a cutting-edge Flash site, then taken a look at some code, and run in the other direction. Learning ActionScript with friends of ED will not turn you into a boring programmer, it will turn you into someone who finally has the power to achieve what they want with their web design. This book will take you from knowing nothing about ActionScript to a firm knowledge that will allow you to exercise a previously unimaginable amount of power over your flash movies. It does this with fully worked examples throughout, and a case study that will leave you with a cutting-edge Flash site by the end of the book. See the final stun:design site here The book assumes no previous knowledge of code or ActionScript, but does assume that you know the basics of the Flash interface, and have maybe created some basic timeline-based movies with tweens and so on. (If you're totally new to Flash, then you might want to take a look at friends of ED's acclaimed Foundation Flash MX, or at the more visually orientated Flash MX Express.) This is no simple re-write of the first edition of Foundation ActionScript - with the help of friends of ED Flash guru Sham Bhangal, Foundation ActionScript has been re-structured and re-written to reflect the major changes in ActionScript bought about with Flash MX (just compare the table of contents if you don't believe us!). Table of Contents 1. Interactive Flash 2. Movies that remember 3. Movies that decide for themselves 4. More power, less script 5. Movies that remember how to do things 6. Getting organized 7. Objects on the stage 8. Making plans 9. Modular ActionScript 10. Sound 11. Sprites 12. Drawing API 13 Coding the stun:design site

Customer Reviews

Good book for beginning actionscript auteurs - Reviewed on 2003-03-12
* * * *
3 customers found this review helpful.

This book is a solid starting point for people interested in making dynamic flash sites with actionscript. It's written in a casual tone, so it's not too dry. However, I do recommend some knowledge of object oriented programming (javascript) because the logic of writing actionscript will be foreign to people who are beginners or have only worked with HTML. However, the lessons are presented in an easy to understand way, with concepts that can be applicable to your own work. There are occasional lapses, such as the author's failure to explain just how a layer mask works, even though it is a necessary step in several lessons (I had to go to macromedia's site for a quick tutorial). Overall, as a relative novice, I have found it helpful and it will be useful as a reference tool after I have completed the lessons.
One of the better actionscript books - Reviewed on 2002-11-15
* * * * *
2 customers found this review helpful, 1 did not.

This is an excellent actionscript book for designers (beginners) who don't like geeky terminology. It leads the reader slowly and the layout is very organized. After you read this book, you'll surely become a well-rounded actionscripter. Compared to other books like Peachpit Actionscript, this book is much better.
One of the better actionscript books - Reviewed on 2002-11-15
* * * * *
2 customers found this review helpful, 4 did not.

This is an excellent actionscript book for designers (beginners) who don't like geeky terminology. It leads the reader slowly and the layout is very organized. After you read this book, you'll surely become a well-rounded actionscripter. Compared to other books like Peachpit Actionscript, this book is much better.
Better already know what you're doing - Reviewed on 2002-10-28
*
9 customers found this review helpful, 2 did not.

This book is like many others written for those who don't already know Actionscipt--it starts out explaining concepts slowly and then takes giant leaps shortly afterwards. This wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't many wasted hours trying to get script to work only to find that I had stumbled upon yet another error not accounted for on the Friends of Ed errata page. I sent multiple e-mails, one which points out something I'm SURE is an error (and it took me a very long time trying to figure it out) and nothing was done. I had another problem with script I'd typed. I checked over and over to make sure I'd gotten the syntax correct, and I had. Then I cut and pasted the FOE coding that I'd downloaded, and guess what? It didn't work either! But when I looked at the rest of the .FLA I saw that the FOE people used different settings than they used in the book. Seems someone decided that some variables needed some tweaks but failed to put it either in the book or on the errata page. I even postponed reviewing this book so that I could give the FOE people a chance to rectify their goofs. But they didn't.

This book is chatty, but chatty doesn't equate to good instruction. If you want to learn Actionscript and know nothing about it or Javascript already, you're out of luck.

I believe that previous viewers might've written so positively because they didn't follow the book step-by-step as I did. If they had, they would've had problems, too. Either that or I have a different version of the book than they do.

Those who "can" can't always teach... - Reviewed on 2002-10-28
* *
10 customers found this review helpful, 1 did not.

Have you ever taken a class from someone who clearly knew the subject forward and backward, but couldn't communicate it to you on your level? This book is a lot like that.

This book is frustrating, at least for a beginner. The authors make the mistake of assuming that writing in a "conversational" style and throwing analogies at you thick and fast are sufficient to instruct a non-programmer or beginner. Instead, they confuse you by "over-explaining" some straightforward ideas, and other times by using needlessly complex examples and exercises that incorporate advanced concepts before the learner is ready; then saying, in effect, "don't worry about that other stuff yet, we were just trying to show you "x". Well, why not come up with an example that just showed us "x" without all that other stuff? Or just give a concise explanation of it?

In my opinion both as an often "naive" learner and as a professional in the field of instructional design, I think the gold standard in teach-yourself computer texts for beginners are the Lynda Weinmann H.O.T. books. Alas, they don't have one for ActionScript.

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