Review – ActionScript 3.0 Visual QuickStart Guide
This book by Derrick Ypenburg is a great reference manual for the seasoned FlashR and ActionScript programmer and a good starter book for the novice. With the upgrade to ActionScript 3, many Flash programmers have found it easier to make the move from ActionScript 2 to ActionScript 3 by going back to the beginning and learning ActionScript 3 from the basics forward. In this book, the author does just that for his audience. Because the book is divided into small sections of information with step-by-step exercises, even the novice will not become overwhelmed. Throughout the book, the author assumes that the reader has a basic knowledge of Flash and therefore the book concentrates on the latest ActionScript 3 techniques.
The author begins with the basics of Dot syntax and then moves on to the individual components of OOP such as variables, methods, functions, classes and objects and their unique relationship with Flash objects, instances and hierarchy. He also covers basic programming tasks including commenting code, testing and error handling. Dynamic text fields and user input are important to Flash interactivity. The author discusses the relationship between the TextField object and the Event model. He not only covers how to use the MouseEvent and KeyboardEvent classes to create dynamic input fields in response to user interactivity but also how to format text and embed fonts in Flash. Next, he discusses the Math class and how it is the backbone of a dynamic, randomly changing Flash layout. Other topics related to dynamic Flash that were covered in the book are data storage and retrieval, conditional and looping logic, HTTP requests, Get and Post methods and loading external assets with the Loader class. At the end of the book is the fun topics such as the Shape class and Drawing API, blend modes, filters, Tweening, transitions, sound and video playback.
Derrick Ypenburg is an expert in rich media applications for Flash. He has worked with many top design firms. He also lectures and authors books and articles on Flash and ActionScript. The supporting files for the book can be downloaded from the author's website focusonmedia.com/visualquickstart/.
The author begins with the basics of Dot syntax and then moves on to the individual components of OOP such as variables, methods, functions, classes and objects and their unique relationship with Flash objects, instances and hierarchy. He also covers basic programming tasks including commenting code, testing and error handling. Dynamic text fields and user input are important to Flash interactivity. The author discusses the relationship between the TextField object and the Event model. He not only covers how to use the MouseEvent and KeyboardEvent classes to create dynamic input fields in response to user interactivity but also how to format text and embed fonts in Flash. Next, he discusses the Math class and how it is the backbone of a dynamic, randomly changing Flash layout. Other topics related to dynamic Flash that were covered in the book are data storage and retrieval, conditional and looping logic, HTTP requests, Get and Post methods and loading external assets with the Loader class. At the end of the book is the fun topics such as the Shape class and Drawing API, blend modes, filters, Tweening, transitions, sound and video playback.
Derrick Ypenburg is an expert in rich media applications for Flash. He has worked with many top design firms. He also lectures and authors books and articles on Flash and ActionScript. The supporting files for the book can be downloaded from the author's website focusonmedia.com/visualquickstart/.
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