Flash MX Upgrade Essentials

by Sham Bhangal

This is the book for you if you've been using Flash 5 for a while and are making the switch to Macromedia Flash MX: it's designed to help you get the maximum benefit from Flash MX at the maximum... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1903450764
• ISBN13: 9781903450765
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Apress
• Length: 450 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.5" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

This book saved me time & $$!!!!

This book is more than worth the price (even without the 30% discount!)I totally disagree with the negative reviews. Sham is a verygood writer, and makes learning Flash a fun experience. His book is geared to anyone who has a working knowledge of Flash5, and just wants to get up to speed on MX, and he states that plainly.This book is invaluble in exploring all the new features of MX.I'm verrrry happy with it! Thanks, Sham, and Friends of Ed for producing great Flash books! Keep it up, mates =)

If you're upgrading from Flash 5, this is the book you need.

I've always wondered why somebody didn't write a book specifically targeted at those who are upgrading to a new version of software they already know and use. Now somebody has. Sham Bhangal has created the perfect book for those that are Flash 5 users, wanting to hit the ground running in Flash MX. Many books cover new features, but if you already know the previous version of the app in question, you are forced to slog through page after page of information you already know. The brilliant thing about this title is that it not only covers the new features in depth, but it tells you specifically how these new features will change the way you work in Flash MX. It's not necessarily obvious, how radically different are some of the new features found in Flash MX. This book spells it out, with clear-cut examples of how to take advantage of each feature. Bhangal's conversational writing style makes the book an easy read. The depth and breadth of his knowledge of the inner workings of the new features makes it obvious that he worked closely with the Flash MX development group.If you want to cut through the clutter and get right to the heart of the new features in Flash MX, this is the book to buy.

The Printing Press

I am a Psychiatrist who only ever openned a PC 10 years ago. I believe in GUI as a good unique way of presenting techniques.Flash MX is the natural progression from Flash 5 but more so. It is much more than an improved version.On reading Upgrade Essentials the learning curve is made much more manageable. The book is enthusiastic & encouraging. It is never simplistic but is always concise & takes nothing for granted.There is no rereading paragraphs to look "where did that come from?" similarly there is no skimping pages.This is not just a "how to do book" it is much more. There is a genuine & open effort to retrain thinking & conceptualising. Whilst ActionScript is not handled as a subject in its own right it is comprehensively & adequately covered.As the printing press enabled "us ordinairy folks" to share knowledge that we could not previously obtain so does this book enable us to levels of knowledge that otherwise we would not have.The examples & explanation are sometimes devastatingly simple & yet highly effective. In a short time I was producing effects I had dreamed about or planned & never really thought I would handle the "Black Magic " needed. I can hardly wait to put it all into action!This book is all it states to be .As many of we "autodidatics" know this is very seldom so.A geat effective & efficient guide to a great tool.

For once, a book that does what it says on the box!

I don't often review the books i buy, but i was inspired by the previous review which gives a bit of an inaccurate picture in my opinion. I know Flash 5 pretty well, and i have a number of 'Beginners' books so there's no way i wanted to go over a lot of old stuff that i've already read a thousand times. That's why i bought into this whole 'upgrade' concept, and i think any of the pros looking for an early start to MX will do the same. OK, I only got it last week but it's keeping me real busy. Even some of the simple stuff, like pinning scripts and using shared objects, i know would have taken me forever to figure out so i'm really happy with this book. There's also a constant flow of examples throughout, which is exactly what i like. Right now i'm reading how to build advanced components, it's pretty heavy stuff, but the author's language is ideal (for my level at least) and even seems to make it interesting!! With reference to the Macromedia site i can't see any new features of MX that this book misses out. I know there are a couple of other MX books out there too, but if this book represents an 'attempt to get something to market quickly', it looks to me like a pretty successful one to me. Wow, i feel like i've justified my $$$ now!