Recommend me some books!

[matbury]

Hey guys,

I've just upgraded to CS3 and I'm keen to get stuck into some AS 3.0. I'm an intermediate coder in AS 2.0 and I've found the following books really helpful:

Teach Yourself ActionScript 2.0 - Sams
Flash 8 ActionScript Bible - Wiley
Foundation ActionScript Animation, Making Things Move - Friends of Ed
Foundation PHP5 for Flash - Friends of Ed
Macromedia Flash 8 @ Work - Sams

I've read some reviews of AS 3.0 books on Amazon and some of them say that the books go into coding for Flex and AIR, and don't really relate that well to Flash. What I'd really like to do is get stuck into learning AS 3.0 in Flash CS3.

If you know of any really good books, could you post them here?

Also, any on-line tutorials that you've found helpful would be great.

Thanks in advance for your help. :)

[nikefido]

my impression of Flex is that it just uses classes (.as files) - the only difference is that you need to connect our document class to your .fla file (which is easy).
Other than that, I think Flex comes with some custom classes that are useful but not necessary, as well as some other features (like doing your imports for you).
Basically what I'm saying is that the books on Flex are just as useful in Flash CS3.

AIR is just helping make .swf movies stand alone applications (doesn't personally interest me).

[BrettAF3D]

The first and most important thing is to get into OOP when you start to understand it you will understand flash 9 without it good luck !

you can learn it in any programming language and it wont take long if you have good programing bases i have leaned it with "Flash application design solutions"
a great great book for AS2 ;)

i think you should get : Essential AS3, Actionscript 3.0 Cookbook, Actionscript 3.0 & Actionscript 3 design patterns, and Object orientated actionscript 3.0

good luck and good coding :)

[matbury]

Thanks BrettAF3D! I've bookmarked them on Amazon and I'll check them out.

Keep 'em coming guys!

[nikefido]

after looking for books of my own, i largely agree with BrettAF3D.
It also depends on how in depth you want to go. If you aren't becoming a serious AS coder (if you're a generalist), then you might skip some of the books (like the one specifically about design patterns in AS3). The cookbook has lots of examples on popular topics. The Essentials goes into more detail on the "theory" of OOP and how it applies to AS3.

I've heard a few bad reviews on the Cookbook - has some innacuracies on some coding - but, also some of it is reported to be written very well (it is written by a few people). Check out reviews on amazon.com (yep, they have a few decent reviews in there).

[stompwampa]

i'll put up a hand for the Essential ActionScript 3.0 by Moock. He does a great job.

I too have heard bad things about the Cookbook...mainly because it was written when AS3.0 was still in beta testing, so some things changed and the book it outdated.

[Mazoonist]

I have:

"Essential Actionscript 3.0" by Colin Moock

Excellent in-depth Actionscript 3.0 language reference. A bit on the technical side, but still absolutely wonderful. However, I disagree with the blurb on the back that says if you have no prior programming knowledge you'll be "gently guided." I think a beginner would be basically lost.

"Flash CS3 Professional Advanced" by Russell Chun

This book has a wealth of practical stuff, but it's less OOP oriented. Don't expect to learn from this how to make your own classes, but it does a good job of going over the built-in ones. You'll learn how to make and manipulate Movie Clips and buttons, make preloaders, load external assets, handle events, learn the new display object model, manipulate sounds, bitmaps, and text (chapters on each). Mostly it gives you a lot of info on how to do good practical things in an AS3 way, and I've gotten a lot out of it so far. Plus, a beginner could benefit tremendously from this one, I think.

"Actionscript 3.0 Game Programming University" by Gary Rosenzweig

I'm just starting to get into this one, but I like it a lot already. The author has a website http://www.flashgameu.com/ where you can check out demos of all the games (ie, play them online): http://flashgameu.com/book_game_demos.html The source code for all the games is free to download, after you register for the site. However, he does ask that you be a purchaser of the book before you do so. The website also has several cool video tutorials you can watch online, free!
The author knows his stuff about making games. I can tell, even though I DON'T (but I want to). I'm going to pursue this one full speed ahead.

Speaking of free video tutorials, there's always my old standby, www.gotoandlearn.com (Lee Brimelow), which has recently added a couple of tutorials in AS3. Seems like I found out about this website on this forum in the first place. I learned a LOT of AS2 stuff from there. Lee really, really, knows his stuff and is a great teacher.

Hope that helps!

[matbury]

What I understand from this, is that AS 3.0 is heavy on creating your own classes. Something that I've done very little of so I'll need some good guidance and a lot of basic level tutorials on this. Are the basics the same as AS 2.0? - I mean if I use AS 2.0 tutorials, will it get me up to speed on that front? It's just that AS 3.0 is so new and I don't think there's that much really good stuff out there yet. It'll take time.

...and Lee Brimelow? What a dude maaan, I love his stuff! I think even Amazon are using some of his stuff for their website now (check out the carousels).

[matbury]

Hey, I checked out the Flash Game University link you posted, great stuff! I'm gonna get that book - it's exactly what I need.

Thanks Mazoonist!

[yell0wdart]

I'll vouch for the Cookbook. As a beginner, it did give me a few good ideas when I was learning the basics of writing conditional statements. It seems to be relatively well written, though I haven't really gotten that deep into it. I'm a complete beginner to programming in general... so I'm reading all I can on basic OOP theories, principles, etc. Then I'll dig into the Cookbook. I've got the Essentials book too, which I'll get to reading as well. Some of the other books sound promising too. Maybe I ought to take a look at those as well. ;)

/edit

Just an addition, the lynda.com tutorials on AS3.0 are pretty helpful as well, IMO. If you have access to them, I'd recommend checking them out. My wife's professor gave her the username/pass for her premium membership... so I've been working through some of those when I have some down time. Pretty good stuff so far.

[stompwampa]

I'll second the Lynda.com tutorials. I watched all of those in like two weeks...and I was pumped to see that they just put up a set up videos for "Beyond the Basics" That's been my one biggest aid in learning this stuff.

[yell0wdart]

I'll second the Lynda.com tutorials. I watched all of those in like two weeks...and I was pumped to see that they just put up a set up videos for "Beyond the Basics" That's been my one biggest aid in learning this stuff.

LOL! I just noticed that too. I'm working my way through the essential training right now... I'm stoked to get started on "Beyond the Basics". Been eat/sleep/breathing development so much, I've been slackin on the next section of my business project (web comic). Good stuff so far. You know you're truly a geek when you actually look forward to programming in your spare time. :p

[Mazoonist]

You would probably do well with Essential Actionscript 3.0, matbury. If you want to learn classes and OOP, it's the best. I can say that even though my OOP is more like OOP's! Haha. Nothing at all against it, I just wonder how a beginner would fare with it, but I guess that depends on the beginner.

[stompwampa]

LOL! I just noticed that too. I'm working my way through the essential training right now... I'm stoked to get started on "Beyond the Basics". Been eat/sleep/breathing development so much, I've been slackin on the next section of my business project (web comic). Good stuff so far. You know you're truly a geek when you actually look forward to programming in your spare time. :p

The Beyond the Basics section isn't as long...but the sections on Tweening and Transitions are gold.

[matbury]

Great stuff, thanks guys! :)

[p0c]

I recently purchased Essential Action Script 3.0. This book deffinately contains all the info you will ever need but one huge problem im having is finding the correct page. The index is pretty vague and it isnt as simple as searching for e.g. "Transition Manager" so I wouldn't say I have my moneys worth out of it. Unless theres an online search (anyone know)

Another great book is "How to cheat in Flash CS3" by Chris Georgenes which is a great book. Full colour pages with loads of step by step tutorials. Doesn't go into too much detail about AS though but I love it. Comes with a CD Rom also.

[matbury]

Thanks Alan Partidge! What's the weather like in Norwich? ;)

I've been using Flash 8 ActionScript Bible a lot for AS 2.0. I find it a great reference for looking up classes and functions. Between that and Flash help, I got pretty much everything covered, and of course you learn best coding practices along the way.

Does anyone think that Flash CS3 ActionScript Bible (AS 3.0) would be as useful, or would I need something more focussed on OOP?

BTW I'm gonna order Colin Moock's ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook and the Flash Games University book.

[nikefido]

LOL! I just noticed that too. I'm working my way through the essential training right now... I'm stoked to get started on "Beyond the Basics". Been eat/sleep/breathing development so much, I've been slackin on the next section of my business project (web comic). Good stuff so far. You know you're truly a geek when you actually look forward to programming in your spare time. :p

I third the lynda.com notion. I'm also pumped for the beyond the basics video. Right now I'm watching Beyond the basics Dreamweaver though. One thing at a time!

hours of video though :(

[charliechan]

I'm making the switch from Java to AS3.0 so I'm in the same boat. Here are the books I'm thinking about getting:

Essential Actionscript 3.0 (OReilly) - for a good solid walk through of AS3.0
ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook (OReilly) - for common nitty-gritty problems
Object-oriented Actionscript 3.0 (friends of ed) - for a more OOP focused look at AS3.0

... and finally, to get my head around common patterns in AS3.0, I'm torn between either-

Advanced Actionscript 3 with Design Patterns (Adobe)
or
ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns (OReilly)

Hmmm. How about that for some light bed time reading? :)
Any advice on which book to buy for patterns?

[dr_zeus]

I thought AS3 Design Patterns (from O'Reilly) was pretty good. You can read my review (http://www.zeuslabs.us/2007/09/19/review-of-actionscript-3-design-patterns-book/) if you like. I haven't read the other one, though.

[Flash Gordon]

edit: bad info gone.....

[dr_zeus]

Flash Gordon, I didn't notice more than a few simple typos in AS3 Design Patterns.

Are you sure you weren't thinking of the AS3 Cookbook? I remember seeing many, many typos when I read that one. From what I've heard, there were many code problems too.

[Flash Gordon]

Oh yes, I'm very sorry. You are correct, as always ;)

[matbury]

So I'll strike AS3 Design Patterns off my Amazon wishlist!

[Flash Gordon]

So I'll strike AS3 Design Patterns off my Amazon wishlist!

No that was the point. I confused the book titles. AS3 Design Patterns is good. However, I actually liked Head First Patterns for Java book much better. But AS3 Design Patterns is good to read.

[Neobii]

This website is also very good, has some workaround as with basic action script www.8bitrocket.com.

[matbury]

No that was the point. I confused the book titles. AS3 Design Patterns is good. However, I actually liked Head First Patterns for Java book much better. But AS3 Design Patterns is good to read.

Ah, I misread - I'll strike the Cookbook off my list then. Thanks!

[BrettAF3D]

I would still get the cook book even tho its not a 100% accurate i still find it very handy and it comes with a library of handy classes...

There aren't so many book available on AS3 to choose from so I think getting this one is still worth it... ;)

[matbury]

I'm sure the publishers are hurriedly getting their authors to update their books to AS 3.0 and OOP because of people like us.

We just have to be patient. Often, some of the stuff on the web is better and more up to date than in books, but I find books are better structured and more comprehensive, especially when dealing with best practices.

So you really recommend Lynda.com? I've never tried it. Is it anything like Lee Brimelow's gotoandlearn() site?

[yell0wdart]

Yes. <3 lynda.com. If you can get your employer to pay for it, all the better (or if you're self employed, just write it off on your taxes as a business expense).

The AS3 tutorials are nice. I'm away from home right now, so I'm a bit behind on the tutorial movies... but I am reading O'Reilly's Essential AS3... which is slightly drier than a Harry Potter novel, but is packed with good information. ;)

[matbury]

I tried the freebies on Lynda.com on Actionscript 3.0, Beyond the Basics...

Thanks for the tip - it's nice to see other people's styles of giving tutorial presentations. I've learned a lot from it.

But for me, they're a bit too slow and a bit too basic. I'm sure they're great for most other people though. I'd definitely recommend Lynda.com if anyone asked me.

:)