Learning ActionScript 2.0 for Macromedia Flash 8

by Jen DeHaan

Powerful development and design tools require thorough and authoritative technical advice and documentation. When it comes to Macromedia Flash, no one is more authoritative than Macromedia Development... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0321394151
• ISBN13: 9780321394156
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Macromedia Press
• Length: 848 Pages
• Weight: 2.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 7.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Good but Boring

This is a good comprehensive subject but can be boring for a more advance programmer, it is just like the syntax for a lot of other languages but is not as exciting to read as other programming languages I have read up on, but to know what is needed this is a good book to get.

What is in the Flash sample files on my C:// drive anyway?

Learning ActionScript 2.0 for Macromedia Flash 8 Jen deHaan, peter deHaan Macromedia Press copyright 2004-2006 ISBN:0-321-39415-1 This book is very comprehensive and thorough. It covers anything you might want/need to know in Flash. It is always good to learn about a software by seeing what the creators of the software have to say about it. They seem to have access to ideas that are overlooked in other books. For example, how many times have you been coding something you have done according to strict coding standards and you get that wonderful code hint box coming up and opps just as you are reading what it says it disappears. Well, you don't have to put up with this anymore!! This wonderful book tells you how to access the code hints anytime anywhere--- just press the parenthesis with the thought bubble next to it or even access it from the pop up menu in the upper right hand corner of the actions pane. This is the kind of detail that this book contains (well it is 848 pages!!). It seems as the authors had some omniscient ability to answer all the questions in Flash that were frustrating me. As is always true in Flash there are always many ways to do just one thing -- another thing you could do would be to put your cursor in the actions pane and press ctrl + u (PC) This brings up preferences where you can set the delay on code hints to the maximum 9 seconds and if that isn't long enough for you just hit the thought bubble. One of the more useful sections is an explanation of each element of Flash, which explains the use of the element. You will find this under a title such as "Using ActionsScript 2.0 Classes" p. 250. This is the only place where I have really encountered a section on "using" something and believe me I have read a lot of books on ActionScript 2.0 Classes. Reading this book gives you an amazing opportunity to get input from people who have incredible background and experience with the authoring tool. This description of what a function should comprise is a good example. "A well written function is like a "black box". If the function contains carefully placed comments about it's input, output and purpose the person using the function does not need to understand exactly know how it works." Believe me this was really good news for someone who has looked through other developer's code and didn't understand exactly how it worked. This book gives you the confidence and ammunition you need to code in just about any scenario. It tells you how to cope if you encounter code that wasn't written according to best practices, or in a prior version of Flash. Here is a secret that nobody really let's you in on: the Script Navigator. Yes, the Script Navigator is your friend. It is a fast way to view all the code and to preview and become familiar with how to trouble shoot someone else's code. Another section that really prepares you for working with ActionScript is the section on page 350 regarding event handler scope. This details how t