Object-Oriented Actionscript for Flash 8

Introduction:

Object-Oriented Actionscript for Flash 8 from Friends of ED (Apress) is a great book for intermediate and advanced Flash Developers who want to learn more about OOP and AS 2.0. This books is definitely not intended for Flash Designers or those with limited experience in Actionscript. This book would be a great introduction to Actionscript 2.0 for any traditional computer programmer with experience in Object-Oriented programming techniques who is looking to start developing Rich Internet Applications with Flash.

First the bad news:

While the majority of this book was full of useful information, I believe their are a few chapters that are completely out of place and should have been removed from the book. The Planning and Project Workflow chapters should have been combined into a one or two page reference located in the back of the book. Since the intended audience is someone that should be familiar with advanced web development, there is no need to include any information about CVS. This could have been written in one sentence... "Any good programmer will utilize some type of file storage and source control application, and I recommend using blah blah blah software." I almost stopped reading the book at this point and had to force my way through the text.

Now for the good news:

The writing style, or "voice" as some people call it, was excellent. It did not feel like I was trying to read a programming book, and instead felt like a colleague or personal friend was giving you a training on the subject matter. I also thought the the Design Patterns information was very informative and I felted like I could immediately change some of the programming techniques in my current projects to have them run more smoothly.

The Media Player Case Study was spot on! How many clients have asked for a media player as part of the requirements of an application? This is a "real world" example that I will study and use hundreds of times, unlike some so-called "real world" examples like XYZ Corp needs a web site to view their magazine subscriptions. I have read a few other books on this subject, and most of them use way too generic examples that will never be applicable unless you actually land that Bank Client who needs a home loan calculator! Although, there was a semi-useless timesheet example at the very end of the book :)

I also enjoyed reading about the tweening techniques used in the OOP Animation and Effects chapter, along with the much needed explainations of how Flash components can be used with OOP in Rich Internet Applications.

Conclusion:

While there is room for improvement, I would highly recommend this book to any advanced programmer or an intermediate Flash Developer looking to better their already established Actionscript 2.0 skills. The Media Player example is enough to make this book worth the money.

Book Rating: 9 / 10