Inside Flash MX [With CDROM]

by Fig Leaf Software and Jody Keating

'Inside Flash X' employs a comprehensive and comparatively advanced approach addressing the emerging fact that Flash is both a designers tool and a programming environment. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0735712549
• ISBN13: 9780735712546
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: New Riders Publishing
• Length: 878 Pages
• Weight: 3.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 7.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Hands down the best Flash MX book on the shelf!

Hands down an awesome collection of data that is extremely well laid out and well written. I use this book in all of my intermediate level Flash classes that I teach. I would recommend this book to anyone in the industry looking to further themselves in their trade.

A Substantive, Holistic Reference

The Fig Leaf Software group has taken an active leadership role in the Flash community for years, pushing the boundaries of what is possible-and then sharing that knowledge with the public at-large, through training, conferences, distribution lists, and more. It is not surprising that Inside Flash MX, a 900-page tome to be released under their auspices is both at the cutting edge of Flash best practices and is also surprising accessible to the non-specialist reader. This book is very well written.As Flash has grown from a simple animation tool to an all-purpose, interactive, database-ready tool, books about it have been stretched in every direction. When you go to write a Flash book, you need to make some decisions; Jody Keating & co made some good decisions. The book provides solid coverage of Flash drawing, animating, masking, and sound techniques, but the book does not wallow in it. Instead, the book moves into the topics that many readers really need (and want) to know about: ActionScript, components, interface building, interactivity, and database interaction. A Flash movie has to look good, but it also has to do something.The book succeeds because it assumes that you won't be satisfied making simplistic animations and formatting text. Even before the ActionScript-intensive chapters begin, the book brings up relevant scripting techniques, showing that designing and scripting are integrated processes in Flash. Too many books (and designers) treat Flash as if it were a schizophrenic program-a design half for artsy types and a code editor for hardcore programmers. But good Flash development has for years been about the marriage of design and code. The needs of each impact the other too much to be handled in isolation. This is one of the few Flash books that understands that scripting is not intrinsically advanced, that some simple scripts are perfectly appropriate for beginners and indeed that they are an excellent introduction to the "hard" side of Flash.One way that the book makes the content comprehensible to those intimidated by code (or other advanced techniques) is through the ample use of tutorials. The CD is packed with exercise files and sample FLAs, and each chapter has one or more tutorials that let you roll up your sleeves and build sophisticated Flash movies. What I liked best about the tutorials is that some of them were ambitious; these are not 4-step tutorials that illustrate an isolated point. They are professional exercises that give you a working glimpse of how it all comes together.Before closing, I'd also like to point out that the book includes a quick ActionScript reference in an appendix. Flash MX does not come with a printed ActionScript manual, so this quick reference is quite helpful. If you are serious about learning how to create professional Flash movies and interactions, you should consider Inside Flash MX, which blends the reference and tutorial styles to optimize learning and mastery.

Worth its weight in gold.

Inside Flash MX takes very complicated, much desired topics and breaks them out into easy-to-follow examples that new Flash developers can expand into complex solutions. A lot of developers are going to find the subject matter very eponymous with their current needs.A lot of the books currently on the market do not cater to the more complicated solutions that novice Flash developers may need-especially in such a manner that can be deciphered and followed clearly. The examples start out very basic and then grow to more complex solutions-still leaving latitude for the developer to explore projects many steps beyond.Experienced and novice Flash users alike will find an interest in this book. The topics that are addressed focus on the enhancements from the previous version of Flash that no longer require extensive workarounds. These solutions will be applicable to Flash developers everywhere-and especially to those who find themselves in a web development environment.Russ UngerDirector of User ExperienceEmercent Solutions, LLC

No other book compares

I am still amazed that this book is published and out on shelves and covers what it does. It goes into components, flash remoting, shared libraries, drawing API, and many other features that most MX books are lacking. Flash Remoting alone is a reason to buy this book. I am also pleased to see that New Riders has put out a book that I can consider a desktop reference. It has a quick reference in the back covering Flash MX objects, shortcuts, and more. I would suggest taking a look at the Table of Contents and you will see all the neat things this book covers.

Worth it!

If time equals money then this book will more than pay for itself by saving you time. This book covers a myriad of different topics but it is all "good stuff." Flash MX has a few quirks which make it slightly more a programmer's tool (sorry designers) but this book steps through many of those items in an understandable manner. Inside MX is a great resource for the beginner and the intermediate designer/developer, there is enough here to make you say "Huh, that is cool, never thought of doing it that way." One benefit of this book is that it actually has some good code in it that is practical for you to rip and use in other places, other books try but often fail, not Inside MX. Having completed the Flash 5 Developer certification and seen some information on the MX Developer certification I can say that this book will be a GOOD reference to review for this exam. This book and the OOP ActionScript book out in Sept. (ISBN: 0735711836) will be a good combination.