If you are not already familiar with Flash then this book is going to be a thick read. The software itself makes the subject hard to learn. Macromedia does things their own way, so you'll be learning all kinds of new ways to do things. This book can help, but don't get in a hurry unless you've already got some experience with the software. For the experienced and expert Flash user this is a great reference tool. A bit overpriced, but then again I'm not sure there's a book of this type that isn't.

haven't finished it yet. but i hope to. this thing is packed with tons of helpful information and sparks my creative juices which i had thought were dry.

What a waste of money. Sure the book has absolutely everything you need to know about Flash, but so what. It is completely boring. Why put yourself through the painful process of reading this 1300 page book-stop. It has no hands on training, which is what really matters, especially for me. If you are new to Flash and really want to learn it, try Macromedia's Flash Professional: Hands on Training. it is a much better buy.

I am studying in a design school in Milano, they didn't provide me many information, lessons and tutorials of flash. Well, this book is lovely, absolutely the best book! Buy it and make it your girlfriend ! Its more than a bible! I am still reading the last pages and I am so much enjoying it that I am getting sad knowing that i am finishing to read it!
Its really a great book!
I want to say thank you to the autors !!!

Got the book today, a massive tome with close to 1300 pages. Sensible layout and plenty of illustrations where appropriate. Time will show if the content covers enough ground for me. Seems like I will have to do an awful lot of reading before I can tell for sure! ;-) However, the accompanying CD-ROM was missing. Perhaps not suprising, as there aren't any plastic pockets inside of the book to hold it, so I guess it was just put in there and fell out later during shipping. On their help pages, Amazon suggests that I contact the publisher about this issue, but in the book itself it says to not expect Wiley to replace any missing CD's. Anyway, I'll get a copy from a fellow student, so I won't pursue the matter.

Not only is the Flash 8 Bible a must have for all Flash developers, Robert takes the book a step further by offering FANTASTIC technical support. For example, I had trouble with a function taught in the book, I posted the question on Robert's support page and within less than an hour of posting my question, Robert got back to me with assistance and helped me until the problem was solved.

You won't regret this book or the support that is offered with it. The best Flash book I've ever purchased!

-- Jenny Graves

I bought the book wanting to get a jump start using Flash. I have been a programmer for over 15 years and wanted to learn how to make multimedia apps with Flash. The book is written to be a reference manual but also is an easy read with several keep projects per concept taught. The examples were a bit simplistic, though.

We just got our copy and the CD was missing. The book seems thorough but the reference material is missing.
Kind of disappointed.

I as was seeking for Advance Flash Movie Clip Image Scrollers, the one Explained was the normal flash built in Scrollers, and some files were found on Advance Scrolling Text, but was not explained. This book is Ideal for those who are beginning to learn Flash8 not for Advance users.

I am a Computer Science student and purchased this book to learn Flash for use with a project. I am very pleased-I think the book has very thorough descriptions and examples, and also offers great advice about design issues and other important considerations when developing a project.

I would highly recommend this book for someone who is new to Flash. As someone with technical background, it was very easy to follow and understand, and also offered insights that I do not get from my classes. I believe even those with limited development experience will find the book very informative, since it does not assume that the readers have prior knowledge about the topics in the book.

Great book, highly recommended!

I have not seen the other Flash Bible Books so therefore gave it a 4 star rating. Also i am a tad dissapointed, the book itself has a lot of info (which the first few chapters is basic stuff) but it also seems that this may be the same content as the other Flash Bible books. It does go over some of the new Flash 8 features like the filters, however i was hoping the book would contain the new "BitmapData" and bitmap caching but it did not. Also maybe go over the timeline effects even if it is simple to understand. Had these features been included it would have been 5 stars.

I honestly cannot believe how much information this book has on Flash 8. I mean, when you get your book, just looking at it you can see how much information it has. This book answered all of my questions concerning flash 8, and inspired many new ideas just from the examples in the book. If you want to spend money to make money, this book is definitely where you should start.

This book just keep getting better and better. I've had every edition since Flash 5 and over the years Robert Reinhardt and colleagues have dug ever deeper into the power of Flash. This goes far beyond the typical "comprehensive reference" (though it certainly is that) to provide a definitive resource totally grounded in real-world considerations and guidance. You really only need on one Flash book, and this is it.