This book dots all the i's and crosses all the t's for me. The book itself is well done with applications that actually work and represent an excellent cross-section of what FCS does. The artwork is top notch, and the stories are lots of fun and resonate with clients I've had. (I swear one was identical.)

What makes this book stand out, in my opinon, is that the author really took the trouble to support the reader. A couple of emails I sent got immediate responses, and all of the apps in the book were available for downloading at the author's site. (The book is divided into 5 parts, and each part has an applicaiton.) When I went to download the book example apps, they were all there. In addition, the author put up 3 more apps -- a 60% "bonus" for the reader. So instead of getting 5 applications, I got 8. So the book and the author support make a complete package, something all too rare today.

This is a fun book. It walks readers through real life situations. Unfortunately it does not have enough coding examples. I understand that it was not intended to be a Flash Communications Action Script primer, but this is more book is more scenario than code. I already had a solid understanding of the FlashCom server when I got this book ( FlashCom experience is required for this book). It was fun to read but what I needed were advanced coding techniques not useless details about the author's former clients. The book actually gives the floor plans of the office of one of the clients which you are instructed to make a site for. The office layout was entirely unrelated to the application. With the single exception that limited space made video conferencing essential. I would buy more books in the Reality series. However, in the future they will not be the second book I buy on a topic. As a third book I think they would work great. Its all fun and no code. Sometimes I felt like I was waiting my time. If you have a solid grasp of FlashCom get the book. I am sure you will enjoy reading it.
andrew-simmons@andrew-simmons.com

This book has the best materials on shared objects and Flash Communication Server on the market. I am more partial to this book than would normally be the case because it had exactly what I needed in one of its parts. A friend had told me that Flash Comm could be used to make remote presentations, and that was exactly what I needed. Our presenters use PowerPoint all the time in presentations, and if they could make a PP type of presentation over the Web, they could reach a much larger segment of their client population with a lot less travel and taking less time.

One of the book's apps is designed for univeristy professors making remote presentations. It includes both a text and JPEG slide show, and while it's not exactly like PP, it's what I was looking for. It was designed to be easy to update for professors who needed to add text and graphics, and so we did not have to change that feature for the presenters. However, it was set up for one or two cameras, and we only needed one, and the university (complete with logo) design had to be changed as well. However, otherwise, we had an out-of-the-box app that we were able to get up and running for our own purposes almost immediately.

Having said that, the book has got a lot more on shared objects than meets the eye, or at least than is in the Index. Two parts of the book (a total of 10 chapters) have applications with shared objects, but the Index only lists two pages in Part II, and so while this is a 5-star book, the Index (at least on shared objects) should cost it a star or two. The examples and explanations of how to use shared objects in themselves is worth the cost of this book. Most of the material is on client-side remote shared objects, and there's some stuff on server-side shared objects as well. For our purposes, though, we only ended up using client-side remote shared objects.

The other materials in the book seem fine (and a lot better indexed!), and the graphics are very professional, but to be honest, my focus was on understanding shared objects, and so I won't comment on the other stuff. You need to know ActionScript, but otherwise, it's not rocket science.

So when you get this book, you have to engage in a bit of treasure hunting to find all of the mateirals on shared objects, but they're all there and nicely explained.

To steel myself to learn FlashComm, I went through the Macromedia Documentation for both client and server side communication ActionScript and I counted the objects. There's only about 9 client and server objects! Some, like LocalConnection are just for, well, local connections and really don't need FlashComm. On the server side there are only 5 objects; so there's not THAT much to it.

The trick, it turns out is using the client side and the server side together. This is where this book is a gem. Every single application in the book shows how this is done, and some of the applications just use the client side--very effectively, too. In showing how to use the server and client side together, the authors place the two sides in juxtaposition and arrows show how the two sides connect. This is the first time I saw that connection.

I had to use a lot of sticky labels to bookmark where key elements are. I have a decent ActionScript background, but not extensive, and while certainly not for beginners, you don't need to be a genius either. FlashComm is very doable, and this books makes it that way.

This is the sweetest book around on flash comm server.Lots of good code and good apps. Not for beginners, but its not impossible either. I downloaded the apps and each one told a different story about flash comm. It was like the apps each had part of flash com and so by going through all the apps in the book, I got just about everything flash comm has to offer except http tunneling and some of the smaller stuff.

If you get this book, keep don't throw away your MM flash com docs. I used this book with the MM docs, and using them together really helped fill in the missing gaps in the docs, and the book shows how the different terms in the docs are used together. Likewise, having the docs around lets you better understand the code in the book. The code is explained for the most part, but lots of places your going to find that the MM docs really help out.

Here's a list of what I got out of it:
1. flash comm client and server actionscript
2. recording/playing FLV files--client and server
3. shared objects. (SOs rock!)
4. a/v chat rooms
5. display client ip addresses
6. reading client and server stats
7. playing mp3 files
8. coordinating client and server scripts

The apps got the best graphics I've ever seen in a computer book like this. Also, I learned a lot about regular actionscript and using UI components. The book has nothing on flash comm components though.

The best part of this book is that I was able to make my own apps. I started with the books apps and then changed them around until I got what I wanted. If you want a good book on flash com and you are not a beginner, I can recommend this one.

I got this book because of the last part on streaming MP3 files. After knocking myself out with the docs provided by Macromedia for streaming MP3 files, I found this book ...and literally read the part on Radio Free Flash... I disovered that the authors had one more parameter in their code for setting up a server side MP3 play list than the docs suggested. Guess what? The book had it right!

So it may not seem fair to review a book on one little thing that saved my sanity (and opened a floodgate of information), but here goes. First of all, when I downloaded the apps from the author's site, they were all there, including the example with streaming MP3 files. (They even included sample MP3 files.) Second, the applications were fully professional. Not only did the apps all work as expected, the graphics by Binitie were the best I've seen in a computer book. Instead of getting some clip-art junk, the design and artwork was fully professional. Third, I liked the tips a lot. Like being reminded to reload the app every time you change the server side script. (The asc file.)

Finally, I really enjoyed the discussions about how the applications were developed. Again, I liked the last part the best because I've been there. A client wants an app at the last second, and everyone you work with is not available, and so you knock yourself out going nuts to get it done. In the book, the approach taken has all of the earmarks of reality, but what I liked best was not just the trial and errors (which also included a nice piece on client-side streaming MP3 files that was not used in the final product) but the attitude. These guys are doing real business in the real world. Instead of whining about it, they understood it. Nobody likes to have clients with some kind of 11th hour demand, but Sanders and Binitie know that the client gets last-minute opportunities that don't fall into a nice neat schedule, and they plan for it. (They also charge for it!!)

Finally, if you're a beginner in Flash MX and want to get a quickie intro to Flash Comm MX, you can forget about this book. This book is by pros and for pros. The explanations are first rate, and I like how snippets of code from the client side are illustrated connecting to the server side. However, before you can take advantage of what this book offers, you should know ActionScript MX. The book does not cover components at all, but rather is strictly for those who want to build their own apps working with Flash Comm and both client- and server-side Communication ActionScript MX.

This is my 3rd FlashCom book, and it's the first one that isn't about FlashCom components. (In fact, if you want more information about FlashCom components, this isn't the book for you--try Reinhardt & Allardice if that's what you're looking for.)

This book is about Server and Client side Communication ActionScript and the development process. It's not for beginners, and you need to be comfortable with Flash ActionScript MX before you even think about using this book.

One of the most valuable parts of this book is the Introduction. It's only 11 pages, but if you downloaded the Dev version of FlashCom, it's the best explanation of how to set it up that I've seen. (It's also the only book that seems to cover FlashCom 1.5.)

It's got 5 different apps to build using both CSCAS and SSCAS. Those are all fine, and you can download them from one of the author's site. However, in the development process, they authors throw away as many good tips and parts as they develop. In the development process of the "Visiting Professor," I finally learned how to use remote shared objects using buttons. However, they decided not to use the button in the final app but instead used a list box, but it was with the button call backs that I finally got how to use the SOs. Also, in the "vtMail" app, they showed how to use buffering with recorded a/v but decided not to use it in the final app.

I'm not sure whether this series is for everyone, especially if you're used to reference-type books. Each application is broken up into 5 chapters that show a process of development and decision-making. That's fine, but it's a little difficult to find what you want. (I solved the look-up problem with the index.) However, each of the Parts shows how everything hangs together, and I liked that.

My only complaint is that I wish the authors had had more apps. Also, while the applications look great on the screen, some are a little dark on the page, but that's minor. For those serious about learning how to use FlashCom ActionScript, this is the place to begin.

This is the book I've been waiting for, and while it's not everything I wanted, it's very cool and I got a lot out of it. I've been waiting for a good book that covers server-side actionscript for FlashCom, and this book does that well.

It's not a beginner's book, but FlashCom isn't a beginner's tool. Right off the bat, this book jumps (and I mean jumps!) into server side actionscript with a utility that uses the server-side script to do everything from getting the statistics about the server to server-side video recording and playback.

According to the author, the first chapter isn't the easiest app, but is best used for seing what's going on in your computer, and then come back and see how the code works. That's probably good advice, but I've been so frustrated by the lack of any good book on server side FlashCom that I started with the first chapter. What I learned is that while understanding server-side FlashCom actionscript is important, you have to understand how to work with client-side FlashCom actionscript as well so that you can get the SSAS and CSAS working together. This book does this very well, and for the first time I'm really understanding how the client and server side work together.

So, if you want to go beyond FlashCom components, this is the place to start. It's not like a typical computer book, but you'll get all of the major elements of FlashCom, including FlashCom 1.5.

By just about any measure FlashComm is advanced. The FlashComm components are the training wheels for this language, and this book has no FlashCom components (just UI components). I wanted to learn client-side and server-side ActionScript, and using this book I was able to get the start I needed. I wanted to learn how to:

1. Create shared objects
2. Make my own audio/video app
3. Control what was happening on remote pages

The book showed how to do those things a lot more (my needs are specific but modest.)

The programming, in my view, was more intermediate than advanced. This was good because I was able to see what was happening. Each of the five projects, a utility, a remote presentation, an audio/video recording app, a two-way a/v + text chat app, and an MP3 audio playing app, were revealed in a story about how the decisions were made based on client demands. The authors used some OOP techniques, but not others. They did not employ prototypes, for instance. However, they were able to make it very clear what was happening between the client-side and server-side in this manny. (In the introduction, they did recommend the Hall and Wan book on ActionScript OOP; so it was clear they were aware of the ActionScript OOP techniques, but chose not to employ them here.)

In lots of ways, this book was just plain cool, and the artwork was fantastic. It's not for beginners, but if you know ActionScript MX, and you want to go beyond FlashComm components, this is the place to start. It's also a fun book.