Foundation ActionScript for Macromedia Flash MX 2004

by Sham Bhangal

Book Overview

Flash guru Sham Bhangal brings us the third edition of everybody's favorite beginner level Flash scripting book: Foundation ActionScript. With the release of Flash MX 2004, scripting in Flash has moved from being a desirable asset to an essential skill in the world of web design and development. ActionScript is, quite simply, the key to real power in Flash. Flash is now both a design tool and a development tool, and ActionScript can easily scare...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590593057
• ISBN13: 9781590593059
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Apress
• Length: 488 Pages
• Weight: 1.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.5" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

To Learn Actionscript

If you want painless method for learning OOP AS this is the book for you. The only omission I have found is that the author does not delve deeper into the logic of programming in the OOP, especially where it is very necessary in order to understand a topic or a solution.

Foundation ActionScript for Macromedia Flash MX 2004

Mr. Bhangal's wonderful teaching style and excellent writing make this a truly easy and painless experience. Explained in plain english how to actually *do something* with action script. Great examples and analogies really drive the concepts home. I think its a big help that Mr. Bhangal is a designer and can speak to a person on a visual level. And, I had a question, e-mailed Mr. Bhangal, and he got right back to me. I am currently reading Foundation Dreamweaver MX 2004 and am also very impressed. The Friends of Ed is a great tool for designers looking to learn multimedia and web software.

Very Useful and Interesting!

The Foundation Actionscript series of books written by Sham Bhangal have been really good in teaching users the intricacies of ActionScript. The third iteration of this series, Foundation ActionScript for Flash MX 2004, is no different.What makes this book great is Sham Bhangal's writing style. His ability to explain complicated ActionScript topics in a simple, sometimes humorous format is great for beginners to understand. He brings in interesting anecdotes and alternate explanations to help make it easy for readers to digest the information.The book starts you off at the basics. You are introduced to basic interactivity, but you quickly progress through the various ActionScript techniques. The information is presented in a tutorial format that engages you in the learning process. You are given the opportunity to take a more hands-on approach to learning the material by writing code and testing your examples in Flash. Theorists need not worry though! There are adequate explanations as to why various ActionScript techniques work. Besides working on the examples, you can apply what you learn by updating a site called Futuremedia as you progress through the book. As you learn more ActionScript, you are given directions to improve and update the Futuremedia site. Besides updating the Futuremedia site, Sham provides examples and directions to create a lot of cool special effects such as moving dots, a mouse trailer, a code-only clock, and more!If you are trying to learn ActionScript for the first time, or if you are trying to brush up on your ActionScript with the new features introduced in Flash MX 2004, this book is a great choice. After going through the book and working on the examples, you will find yourself having a better understanding of the ActionScript language.Regards,Kirupa

An excellent book for a start with ActionScript 2.0

In my opinion, this book rightfully deserves the top grade. I need to make a statement here, that, this book does not cover the Rich Application Development part of Actionscript, which deals with embedded Data components like datagrid etc. However, for the basic ActionScript, it explains everything that you will ever need for Flash interfaces. A plus about the book, is that it is written by only one author and it makes the book very easy to follow. the author really knows what he mentions and he makes very good points about the subjects. The topics are supported by short, but very nice examples which really makes a smart use of the subject mentioned. I found these short examples easier to follow and get a result. The book has a website construction project that goes in sync with the book subjects, and a Space Invaders game deconstructed, too. There is nothing i can criticise about the book, honestly. it is a foundation book, and i think it has everything you may want for a very good working knowledge of ActionScript and Flash in general. As a summary, i believe this was another wonderful book from Friends of Ed Flash series. Highly recommended...