Overall. Excellent book.

Well written and in an interestingly new format...hence the "reality"
title. In a nutshell the book takes a handful of projects and runs
through them as a "real world" scenario. From basic project planning and
management to the design and coding.

What this book is not!
Anyone looking for a hardcore reference for either CFMX and/or
FlashMX...this is not the book. While it does dip into specifics on
occasion, the book assumes a certain skill level...guess that's why it
says intermediate to advanced on the back.

Who should buy it?
CF developers looking to extend their skillset into the realm of rich
clients. In my opinion, there are a few prerequisites though before
diving into this book. (to avoid flash culture shock). A) Learn how to
get around the Flash environment. Best place to start are the
tutorials...you don't need to be an expert but a few weeks of tinkering
with small projects should do the trick. B) Go through all the Flash MX
/ CF integration examples on DesDev FIRST. They're all straight forward
and give you the required basics on the whole CF/Flash thing. You may
still get a little lost on the Actionscript portion but for the most
part it's approachable for a CF'er...All in all a Flash MX basics book
would be a great primer.

In conclusion, the format of the book is great because it provides
solutions to a whack of obstacles you're most likely to run into when
making your first rich client app...and more importantly how to tie them
together.

My only criticism is that I think it would have been nice to include a
coding task-list on each chapter for easy reference. (e.g. Chapter 1:
Covers authentication, form validation, custom skin component
etc..)...Not the end of the world but I've been spoiled since the days
of BF's classic Appendices. As well as some deeper detail on the more
advanced "phase II" features mentioned after each project...maybe this
is to make room for a second edition, who knows!

I don't understand the fuzz about this. Maybe I am wrong but for now this is the only CF/Flash MX book I have found. But I am far from amazed. The layout and style of writing leaves a lot of blanks, The book is built in self-proclaimed case studies. Case studies where pages printed in 45 degrees, making it unnessesarily hard to read the text. Code is not clearly written and is sometimes 'hidden' inbetween descriptive text...now, I did not like this...

I have been programming in coldfusion since 4.5, and i have always had problems trying to integrate it with flash, but now that coldfusion and flash mx came out its a lot easier to integrate them together. This book actually shows you how to take full advantage in developing more enhanced applications utilizing coldfusion and flash mx, and it also shows you how to integrate your applications using the flash communication server, which to me was a very big help.

I would definetly recomend this book to anyone that is trying to learn how to integrate coldfusion and flash mx.

This book delivers.>>> Dennis and Ben hit every nail on the head with a great instructional piece! The new features of the MX platform are powerful and confusing, yet with a focus on architecture and simple, elegant implementations, this book is a must have for the intermediate Flash/CF Developer who wants to break the ice on building Rich Internet Applications (and can't figure out PetMarket for the life of them) or the advanced developer who wants to see how 2 of the best developers in this realm would handle real world situtations.

This book by the star of Macromedia Ben Forta, and his crew of
co-authors is perhaps the first of its kind to highlight the many
business uses for Flash integration. It is refreshing to see a new point
of view that highlights applications which are more than just the
Skip-Intro's that have made Macromedia's Flash infamous. While the
book's focus is not a coding reference, it does expertly diagram methods
for successful implementations of real world rich user interface
applications. If you have ever wondered how to create a database driven
web application that acts like a website, but performs like a true rich
UI application, Reality ColdFusion MX is for you. With this offering,
Forta assumes that the reader has already been introduced to both Flash
and ColdFusion. Instead the reader is presented with a more intricate
discussion about integrating these two complimentary and recently
co-branded software packages. Many of the new features introduced in the
MX versions of Flash and ColdFusion (CFC's, Flash Remoting, Flash
components, and Shared Objects) are described in depth throughout the
book.

Reality ColdFusion MX is divided into four sections, each based on its
own Flash application (media player, expense reporter, instant
messenger, and email client). The development process is shown in its
entirety from the point of view of a real world consulting engagement
(where frequently time and budget dictate the planning process more than
the actual requirements do). Forta expertly recounts real life
experiences while highlighting the most powerful new features of Flash
and ColdFusion MX. This book is for coders and architects that are ready
to delve into the world of using Flash as a dynamic user interface. The
focus here is not on how to do a motion tween across the timeline, it is
understanding how to properly separate presentation from function, while
rapidly creating an application that can change the way business is done
on the web. Kudos to Forta and the gang for teaching us the future of
Flash MX as a business tool that can be used side-by-side with
ColdFusion MX for powerful presentations of server side applications. I
highly recommend this book to anyone who develops applications for the
web.

This book changed my life! Ok...maybe not my life, but at least my development process.

I will tell you this, if you open this book expecting to just walk through the steps to build something you are in for a big surprise. This is not a reference book and it's not a "learn flash remoting in 24 hours" book either. What it is, is a fresh approach in which you learn more than just how to develop an application in the standard sense.

This book walks you through the steps of the development process from the initial brainstorming session to the delivery and implementation of the final product. Each piece include whiteboard drawings, real emails, real notes from meetings, etc..

To top it all off, they shows REAL issues you run into during development and how to overcome them. When was the last time everything in a book wasn't all rosy and perfect? Honesty in a development book...nice concept!

Check out more cool stuff from these guys at flashcfm.com and forta.com

Excellent work guys!

I found this book really helpful in terms of applying development to real-world situations. Each section of this book takes the reader through the initial planning stages of an application, all the way through to implementation. The content is very well written and demonstrates how to blend the uniqueness of a Flash UI with ColdFusion powering the backend. This book thoroughly covers Flash Remoting, CFC's, and Flash Comm Server. If you're interested in developing the next generation of web applications then this book is a must have. This is not a beginners guide to Flash/CF and requires that you have some experience with developing Flash and ColdFusion applications.

I recently recieved this book and was able to read straight through it in no time. The project theme used throughout the book provided an enjoyable reading experience while at the same time did an excellent job of explaining Flash and ColdFusion integration. Since the book covers Flash and ColdFusion integration, the book thankfully also covers Flash Remoting, the bridge between ColdFusion MX and Flash MX.

As flash moves into position as the client of choice for complex web application development I have no doubt that this book will become standard fare for new and old developers alike.

This book covers key concepts to coldfusion and flash integration, makes extensive use of the new flash component library and new to coldfusion mx technologies such as CFC's.

While these things are all very useful the true value of the book is that approach taken that every project is a real world example of flash and coldfusion coming together for a real world solution. All done in, of course, record time by a team of arguably the most respected developers in the industry.

This book is not for someone looking for syntax reference or 'how to' tutorial material. Its written by those who are in the trenches with the rest of us and as such, this book comes highly recommended.

This was an incredibly useful book on integrating Flash and ColdFusion. I have done integration with the two products in the past but this book provided useful pointers and techniques that will prove invaluable for my next project. The real-life concepts work great as a learning mechanism throughout the book.

Please remember that this book assumes you know CFMX already! It's very important that you understand CFMX's new ColdFusion Components (CFCs). This book is basically for CFMX Developers to get up to speed with learning Flash Remoting. Some flash knowledge is good to have as it doesn't look to get too detailed into the flash actionscripting, but it does mess around with Flash MX UI Components that Macromedia released.

HTH,
~Todd, Team Macromedia Volunteer for ColdFusion MX