Not as good as I expected
The Flash Actionscript 3 Bible appears, like many Bible books, to have just about everything you need to know about a given topic. This book on the other hand seems more like a introduction to Actionscript 3 and is not very exhaustive with the programming language. There are many instances where it gives a mention of a class or method, then tells you to just use the Adobe help to find out more about it.
It gives a good overview of how Actionscript has changed since version 2, pointing out most of the differences. It gives a good foundation for learning the language as an object oriented language. When it starts breaking out and getting into the different classes, it falls short of being very informative. I generally had to end up on actionscript sites or on Adobe help understanding many of the classes do.
The book is pretty well written explaining and teaching the language. I just wish I could use it more as a reference book than a "getting started" type of book.
Great for learning AS3
Contradictory to most "Bibles" this book is not a thorough reference guide, meaning it does not break down every function or object with all of the property and methods. However, the examples are very clear and it's an excellent book to learn what you need and why you want it about Actionscript. I really enjoyed the simple explanations and for each topic I think just the right amount of information is presented without overloading you or leaving wondering what you're missing. Given that there is a wealth of detailed "reference" material at Adobe's site and built into Flex Builder, I think this book is an excellent complement to those materials. I recommend this book to anyone with a little programming experience looking to add ActionScript to their knowledgebase.
Dusty reference book
In my opinion there are three things to look for in a Computer Language book. Exhaustive reference, truly illustrative examples and applicable conventions and design patterns.
Unfortunately this book failed on all counts, so I rarely open it anymore.
I also have "Essential Actionscript 3" and "Actionscript 3 Cookbook" in my library. I use these a lot more frequently.
A good book on AS3, but not a language reference
It's surprising that nobody has published a simple language reference for ActionScript 3.0 yet; until that day comes, this book is my most often visited reference when programming Flash projects.
Great job by the authors.
My only complaint: The examples are good, but would be of much more use if they also included classpaths (e.g., the correct "import" statement) within them. As they are, I often find myself searching Adobe's online references for the correct package/class to import before trying them out.
Not a good reference book & the index is lacking.
The Flash 8 Actionscript bible was an amazing reference, and covered just about every feature. This book is nothing like that. The examples are ok, but the whole way it is written and the index in particular feels kind of rushed. I need a good reference book!
(11 reviews)
