if you're looking for Actionscript 2.0/Flash remoting, maybe should wait for the next edition.

This book does not cover Flash MX 2004 Professional (remoting) in any great depth ... BUT it works. I have followed the numerous remoting techniques since Flash 5 (from simple name/value pairs, towards XML parsing, through the Data Connection Kit, FireFly ... and so on). I downloaded every online tutorial possible, only to find that they were not compatible.

The more the technology expanded, supposedly making Remoting easier, the more confused I found myself. All I wanted was a sophisticated RIA. Was that so wrong?

The point is as follows: there a number of ways to use remoting, in addition to the number of alternate methods each "way" supports. Which means that the average non-genius programmer will incorporate pieces of [in my opinion] disparate remoting techniques that insure a faulty approach. Especially if they have FLMX 2004 Pro, like myself.

This book cuts to the quick. Almost immediately, I learned several cohesive strategies from beginning to end. You will learn the difference between the manual and the more sophisticated approaches, and the situations in which they could be used.

While I haven't learned the FLMX 2004 Pro components directly, yet, I have learned how to use Flash Remoting with my app server. Finally. Now I can intuitively move forward on my own.

There are very few books on Flash Remoting. I previously studied another book that was helpful, but I didn't feel I attained the necessary skills I needed to implement Flash Remoting. This book was a welcome addition and left me feeling I could finally utilize Flash Remoting in real-world application.

The instructions and examples are written well, easy to understand and make sense. What's really amazing is that all the example programs in this book actually work (with no corrections)!

My programming background is advanced programming experience with ColdFusion MX and Visual Basic, minimum experience with JavaScript and ASP scripting. Having never programmed in ActionScript before, I felt the programming concepts were clearly explained, allowing me to grasp and understand object oriented techniques, good programming standards, ActionScript syntax, and Flash Components. This book was extremely helpful with learning how to utilizing ColdFusion Components for Flash Remoting.

I think anyone who wants to gain a detailed understanding of Flash Remoting would be very satisfied with this book. After studying this book intently, I feel I've gained the necessary understanding and skills to make Flash Remoting a central part of any Rich Internet Applications I develop.

I've been anticipating Tom Muck's new book for months. Even though we're currently using Flash Remoting with ColdFusion MX, I thought there might be tips and techniques to learn to improve code flow.

Remoting technology allows programmers to create client/server applications using Flash MX to design an event-based GUI that interacts with an application server for data exchange on the back end. Data requests from the user are handled by Flash and sent to the server via an ActionScript Message Format (AMF) packet and returned to Flash from the server the same way.

Muck's book begins with the basics of Flash Remoting and installation. and moves onto client/server interaction. Each explanation provides examples for use with ColdFusion MX, server-side ActionScript, J2EE, ASP.NET, and PHP. The next section provides detailed information for use with each of these technologies.

The third section of this book provides information and examples for calling Web services from Flash Remoting, extending objects and UI controls and best practices. Finally, a usable real-world application is provided for an in-depth exploration of techniques and code.

This is a comprehensive, well-written reference manual as implied by the title. A list of additional resources is provided by the author for further exploration. If you are interested in Flash Remoting, this is a must-have book for your collection. Highly recommended.

Lisa Wilson, SacCFUG Manager, Senior Programmer at Mediaworks, UC Davis

Keep this book next to your copy of ActionScript for Flash MX, the Definitive Guide (second edition), that's how useful it will be. I was skeptical about this book before even opening it, thinking that one book could not possibly cover Flash Remoting in the depth and breadth that I was looking for. I had bought several other Flash Remoting books, each focused on one server-side technology. How much nicer it is to be using just one resource! This book provides a strong understanding of how Flash Remoting works, why Macromedia designed it the way they did, and what you need to do to use it. Although this reference is designed for people with some ActionScript experience, the author delivers the content with a great deal of context that is both conceptual and practical without overdoing it.