ActionScript 3.0 is a huge upgrade to Flash's programming language. The enhancements to ActionScript's performance, feature set, ease of use, cleanliness, and sophistication are considerable. Essential ActionScript 3.0 focuses on the core language and object-oriented programming, along with the Flash Player API. Essential ActionScript has become the #1 resource for the Flash and ActionScript development community, and the reason is the author, Colin Moock. Many people even refer to it simply as "The Colin Moock book."

And for good reason: No one is better at turning ActionScript inside out, learning its nuances and capabilities, and then explaining everything in such an accessible way. Colin Moock is not just a talented programmer and technologist; he's also a gifted teacher.

Essential ActionScript 3.0 is a radically overhauled update to Essential ActionScript 2.0. True to its roots, the book once again focuses on the core language and object-oriented programming, but also adds a deep look at the centerpiece of Flash Player's new API: display programming. Enjoy hundreds of brand new pages covering exciting new language features, such as the DOM-based event architecture, E4X, and namespaces--all brimming with real-world sample code.

The ActionScript 3.0 revolution is here, and Essential ActionScript 3.0's steady hand is waiting to guide you through it.

Adobe Developer Library is a co-publishing partnership between O'Reilly Media and Adobe Systems, Inc. and is designed to produce the number one information resources for developers who use Adobe technologies. Created in 2006, the Adobe Developer Library is the official source for comprehensive learning solutions to help developers create expressive and interactive web applications that can reach virtually anyone on any platform. With top-notch books and innovative online resources covering the latest in rich Internet application development, the Adobe Developer Library offers expert training and in-depth resources, straight from the source.

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Important place in library,  April 28 2008
Submitted by Marcin Klimek   [Respond | View]

Colin Moock's book entitled "Essential ActionScript 3.0" pretend to be one of the most important positions in ActionScript developer library. It contains a lot of informations from core concept of object oriented programing to details about garbage collection or topics connected with optimalization of ActionScript code. Many additional annotations provide unique ActionScript knowledge. The book is divided into three parts.


First part contains most basic and most important information about object oriented programming and syntax of Actionscript 3.0. This section is useful especially for beginners. You can find a lot of well described samples. Thanks to many information about internal mechanisms working in Flash, sections can by very useful for advanced programers.


Second Part of the book covers a lot of interestig information related to visual part of ActionScript application. It shows how to build GUI and let it play with user gestures. You can learn about tools to build rich and interactive interface in the best and the most flexible way.


Third part contain applied ActionScript topics. It should be very interesting for person who want to find out how to create content in Flash authoring environment and bring it to life with code written in ActionScript. This section covers basic Flex MXML concept also.


Summing up this book contains most important concepts of ActionScript language. Nowadays, when internet becoming more and more, interactive, useful and eye-candy this book will help you understand how to build amazing content using one of most powerful environment dedicated to internet solutions.


Important place in library,  April 21 2008
Submitted by Anonymous Reader   [Respond | View]

Colin Moock's book entitled "Essential ActionScript 3.0" pretend to be one of the most important positions in ActionScript developer library. It contains a lot of informations from core concept of object oriented programing to details about garbage collection or topics connected with optimalization of ActionScript code. Many additional annotations provide unique ActionScript knowledge. The book is divided into three parts.

First part contains most basic and most important information about object oriented programming and syntax of Actionscript 3.0. This section is useful especially for beginners. You can find a lot of well described samples. Thanks to many information about internal mechanisms working in Flash, sections can by very useful for advanced programers.

Second Part of the book covers a lot of interestig information related to visual part of ActionScript application. It shows how to build GUI and let it play with user gestures. You can learn about tools to build rich and interactive interface in the best and the most flexible way.

Third part contain applied ActionScript topics. It should be very interesting for person who want to find out how to create content in Flash authoring environment and bring it to life with code written in ActionScript. This section covers basic Flex MXML concept also.

Summing up this book contains most important concepts of ActionScript language. Nowadays, when internet becoming more and more, interactive, useful and eye-candy this book will help you understand how to build amazing content using one of most powerful environment dedicated to internet solutions.


ActionScript 3 Essential,  April 17 2008
Submitted by Piotr Bęben   [Respond | View]

The “Essential ActionScript 3.0″ book is addressed to everybody who wants to known new possibilities of ActionScript 3. This book helps you migrate without problems from version 2 to 3 and extends your knowledge. Many small and simple examples illustrate and introduce theoretical problems in a simple way. It is written in a simple language without technical gibber. In my opinion every Flash developer should read this book minimum two times.


Well Worth the Price of Admission,  March 04 2008
Submitted by SamFeltus   [Respond | View]

Essential ActionScript 3 is a great book. It covers similar material to Essential ActionScript 2, but the author has done a great job fine tuning the coverage of the subject with the new AS3 version. The book gives a clear explanation of AS3 in a format someone with a coding background can relate too. With this book, the free Flex compiler, and an image editor, a person is ready to start working with Flash/Flex, with or without the Adobe/OSFlash tools. It will not be as helpful to someone without a solid coding background that was looking for a more visual explanation of the subject matter. Since the previous AS2 book, Mr. Moock has focused and refined the message in his excellent ActionScipt reference and tutorial. This book helps explain the dramatic advances in the ActionScript language. ActionScript is no longer a toy language in any fashion.

The book excels at the nuts and bolts of the ActionScript 3 programming language and syntax. It does the best job explaining all of this that I have seen. It is definitely more clear to a newcomer to AS3 than Adobe's Online Documentation. The most useful part of the book was the clear explanation of the Display API. The online documentation of this is decent, but inadequate to easily learn the Display API if you are a novice. The information on the Display API is worth the price of admission alone. It has a great intro to the Event process. This is the best explanation I have seen of the Event process, it just makes sense after reading this book, from mouse/keyboard interactivity to program generated events, to I/O events. The explanation of the basics of Bitmap and Vector graphics is well done. It is not all you need to know, but it teaches you enough to get you started on the right path. Also, each of the footprint tips in the book is a little gem.

Seeing as AS3 is a major revision to AS2, if not a new language with an old name, you need to forget alot of the old syntax from AS2. Likewise, if all you have seen is AS2 and dynamic languages such as Perl/Python/PHP etc, all the new static and variable terminology is cumbersome at first ( perhaps it is obvious to someone familliar with Java).
All the basic syntax are explained cleanly: objects, functions, syntax, the scrapping old _root and _level syntax, differences between static and dynamic typing, etc.. I found the explanations crystal clear. After reading this book, the pros and cons and uses of the static and dynamic objects will be clear. This was particularly tricky to follow in the Online docs.

The cons are understandable shortcomings to keep the book under a thousand pages. It doesn't cover the environmental details in any depth, be it the Flash tool, the Flex tool, the Flex compiler or other open source toolkits. This is also a feature, since it is tool agnostic. Like the other books by Mr. Moock, it doesn't cover the audio and visual end of ActionScripting in a great deal of depth. It would be nice to see more coverage in this area, but then again, the book would bulge way beyond a thousand pages. The biggest criticism is the explanation of sound is lacking, and IMO the book would be improved significantly with a good section on sound. It's not really covered, and there is not alot of easily found reference material on sound online.

Unlike older versions of Flash, it is difficult to use AS3 without seeing the big picture. It doesn't lend itself to learning a little at a time from scratch like older versions of AS. This book is a great primary reference and textbook for the ActionScript side of the Flash/Flex world. It is a buffet of useful factoids and tips on ActionScript 3! Using Google, the Adobe online docs and this book will be a solid foundation for learning ActionScript 3. It goes without saying that Adobe has been making huge advances with the entire Flex/Flash stack, and that it is well worth learning more about.


Should've been the first book i purchased,  February 08 2008
Submitted by Justin   [Respond | View]

I just purchased the book two weeks ago and im understanding a whole lot more than what other books have taught in the short amount of time. Not to say that the other books are bad books by any means. Its just that other books sometimes are just packed with facts with little applicable scenarios if any. In EAS 3.0 Mr. Moock has managed to pack the book with facts AND make the material relatable. The way he explains the concepts makes even the beginner feel confident about their chances at becoming a good actionscripter.

Ive read comments about people thinking AS3 is hard and they wont go near it. Let me tell you something, I received an Associates in Computer Science then went to pursue another degree for my Bachelors. From the time i recieved my degree up until a couple months ago i had pretty much forgotten everything i learned. In fact one of the only programs i remember anything about was one in an Intro to Computer Programming class i had when i learned QBASIC... Did you hear what i said?! ( probably not cuz you're reading it) QBASIC!!! I forgot C forgot all the HTML stuff, dont even talk about Java. Then i just pick up with one of the most powerful and flexible programs (Flash) with the launguage to back it up(AS 3.0). Now im not sayin that this book teaches you everything you need to know about HTML, Java, C++, etc. BUT if after years of NO programming if i can pick this book up, learn a language, and then as a bonus learn a way of thinking that makes it easier to learn and re-learn other languages, then the book must be something to really take a look at.

If i was teaching Flash, this would be the main book i would tell my students to get. Bottom line.

Excellent job. Lookin foward to more


not one true source for actionscript 3.0,  January 30 2008
Submitted by Colin Moock |   [Respond | View]

hi tetraktys,
Essential ActionScript 3.0's unapologetic goal is to cover the core language in extreme depth, with extreme accuracy. that unfortunately does not leave room for serious coverage of components (Essential ActionScript 3.0 is already over 900 pages, and component development could easily fill a book of its own).

happily, in September 2007, Adobe posted a good series of articles on creating ActionScript 3.0 components. see:
https://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/creating_as3_components.html

hope that helps,
colin


Yeah! This is it!,  January 20 2008
Submitted by Thomas Garrod   [Respond | View]

Colin Moock has always been the man, but this book is his zenith. It is great. I'm on page 205 and he's making event listeners meaningful to me.

There are lots of books that turn us into monkeys, doing what they tell us. They prove we can copy what we see, and still be without a clue. Colin could include exercises, but short of that, there is nothing he could do to improve the book. I've seen more subjects clarified after years of practice than at any other time from any other techincal book.

This is my forth book on ActinScript 3.0, including the ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook. I wasn't a bit wiser after trying with that last one, but after reading this book I'm prepared to go back and try the recipies again.

The big problem with other books on Flash is that they bring us close but leave us in the lurch. That is the last thing to expect from Colin Moock, and you won't get it from Colin in this book.

Colin's previous books were head and shoulders above other ActionScript books, but 2.0 was a bit dicy with his leap into abstract concepts at the start. In this book he begins with a practical example and he doesn't keep sending us to later chapters to understand concepts used in early chapters. Further, his initial practical example is simple and easy to grasp, unlike his examples in 2.0. Guess he learns from his mistakes.

This is a must buy for any one serious about learning ActionScript and keeping up with the technology.


Provides a solid understanding and foundation of Actionscript 3.0,  December 10 2007
Submitted by J. Gold   [Respond | View]

This book is a great resource for anyone wishing to gain a solid understanding of Actionscript 3.0. Colin Moock taught me Actionscript from scratch, and inspired me to continue my development with enthusiasm and confidence. If you are serious about learning Actionscript 3.0, whether as a beginner, or as a seasoned coder making a migration from Actionscript 2, but don't know where to really start, then use this book as your definitive resource as an introduction and in concert with any others you feel comfortable with.

For those just beginning in Actionscript 3 or object oriented programming (OOP), Colin Moock provides a thorough, yet easy-to-understand introduction to core concepts and theories while providing a methodic and detailed study of the areas of Actionscript that are essential to writing great code. While this book may seem a bit intimidating to the beginner that wants to just jump in a start coding right away, the payoff and value of this title becomes apparent by the end of the introduction and first chapter on Core Concepts. The reader is introduced to the history, main concepts, terms, definitions, and processes that go into grasping and writing code with Actionscript. I had no real programming experience prior to reading this book, but was able to read (and understand) Actionscript within the first 100 pages. But this title is also great for those who are already proficient in Actionscript 2, and need to learn enough about AS3 to make a smooth migration while maintaining the leverage of their experience and command of AS2. Colin points out key differences between AS2 and AS3 in a way that is non-threatening. Actionscript 3 is basically a new language compared to AS2; it is a full-fledged object oriented programming language with strict rules and syntax. But it is presented here in a way that is inspiring instead of intimidating.

This title will go into more depth than any video training or book you will find on the subject. Colin presents his lessons step-by-step using a 'Virtual Zoo' program that evolves from chapter to chapter as your understanding of the topic progresses. Most chapters are relatively easy to digest, but require you to think...and process the information for a while...to fully absorb the concepts that were just presented. Each chapter progresses a bit on the previous chapters. Beginners and seasoned coders alike will start to notice that many of the questions you were afraid to ask elsewhere, are answered here. More importantly, as you read each chapter, Colin masterfully presents information that has you asking questions that become answered within a few pages or chapters. He even points out where to find the information in later chapters in case you become curious to explore a topic that you are currently reading through. I found that i could only read through about 50-100 pages per day if i really pushed myself; not because the concepts or writing style were too difficult, but rather because Colin Moock presents complex information in such a way that inspired me to peer beneath the surface and really contemplate what I had just read. If you are serious about learning Actionscript, you will do yourself the favor of allowing yourself the time to absorb the key concepts presented in this book.

Essential Actionscript 3.0 is divided into three main parts:

I. Core concepts and an introduction to foundation Actionscript terms and elements. This basically runs provides an in-depth exploration of Actionscript from it's inception to the latest release in 3.0. You will learn what a function is, and how to write one while distinguishing the subtle difference between a method and function. Colin presents topics such as conditionals and loops, variables and methods, inheritance, data types, interfaces, statements and operators, arrays, event handling, scope, namespaces, and working with XML while quickly providing you with the ability to read and write AS3 using dot syntax. You'll completely understand how to write a class and a package, and how to organize them easily. I promise you will feel very confident in your understanding of AS3 by the middle of this section. You will feel like you can read any AS3 code and understand what's going on, and whether it is re-usable code, or whether it was slapped together by someone trying to just get something done. You will likely understand by this point, that writing Actionscript is both an art and a science--and that every coder has his or her own style. The key to this book is that it gets you to a point where you can start to develop your own style without wondering if you have a firm grasp on the Actionscript language. You will be at a point where you can feel comfortable tackling any code or concept without being intimidated. More importantly, you will learn that there is a simple pattern and set of rules for reading and writing solid Actionscript code. Once you get to this point, you'll feel like nothing is too complex to understand or develop.

II. Display and Interactivity. This section introduces and explores concepts necessary to create display elements and interactivity to your code using Actionscript 3.0's new display API and display list. The display list is new in AS3, and Colin explains why it is much more powerful, and ultimately easier to work with than in previous versions of Actionscript. Moock walks you through handling events and display hierarchies...discussing the event model and event flow. You will learn to write custom events with confidence, or at least understand them well-enough to know the questions to ask if you get stuck. Next, he moves on to adding interactivity with mouse and keyboard events...and more advanced events. You will be introduced thoroughly to programmatic animation, drawing with vectors, using bitmap data from loaded and external sources, working with static and dynamic text objects, and loading external display assets.

III. Applied Actionscript Topics. This section ties all that has been explored through this title together in a manner that you will understand when it comes to applying it to real-world projects. Colin doesn't leave you hanging with just a great introduction to key concepts; he shows you how to apply it...how to think logically when you approach applying it. And, he shows you how to write classes of code so they are reusable, and how to organize them so you can share easily with other programmers.

This book is not the only book on Actionscript you will ever need. You'll want to learn about design patterns in OOP and Actionscript. And it may not be the first resource for gaining an introduction to Actionscript 3. But once you have a basic understanding or interest in coding with Actionscript, this book becomes an invaluable tool. It will provide you with in-depth answers to questions that you won't get from video training or classroom lessons, or may feel intimidated by asking at user groups or workshops. In fact, you will get more from such training once you've read through this book, or parts of it. I have found that many seasoned Actionscript developers lack much of the understanding that come with reading through this book. In short, reading Essential Actionscript 3.0 by Colin Moock will accelerate your learning curve and evolution as a serious Actionscript developer. You will feel a sense of accomplishment just by gaining insight into a topic you previously may have thought too intimidating or daunting. You will realize that your journey as a programmer has just begun. But you will progress and grow with more confidence, and get more from any other source, by having read this book first.

After reading this book, I felt like I was on my way to becoming a successful Actionscript developer. And you will, too.



A must have,  November 19 2007
Submitted by julien   [Respond | View]

I have the pdf version and I love to refer to it because I know that I can search into it and find better answers than I would in Google.

I'm not an experienced ActionScript programmer and I was a beginner in AS2. But if you are serious about learning AS3 I suggest to also buy ActionScript 3.0 Design Patterns AND ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook. I personnaly prefer the PDF format because I can search through it when I code.


not one true source for actionscript 3.0,  September 29 2007
Submitted by tetraktys   [Respond | View]

I like this book as far as basic AS .0 goes, but there's one glaring omission that disqualifies it for the "definitive guide" title, and that is custo components. i made a similar critique of the friends of ED book "Object Oriented Actionscript 3.0"

quoting that:

"I own both O-O AS for flash 8, and O-O AS 3.0 these books logically parallel each other in their structure, which is very helpful in making the (sometimes frustrating) transition from as2 to as3. I'm confused about chapter 16 though. In the AS2 book, there seems to be a pretty clear step by step procedure for making a custom component from scratch, but in O-O AS3.0, I don't see how this explains actually how to build a component, although they use the word component alot, I don't see an actual explanation of publishing a custom component in as3. For instance, how do you tie into the component inspector with as3? how do you achieve live preview? no mention of componentShim etc.
is there any book or documentation out there that clearly explains developing custom components for Flash Actionscript 3.0 (the .fla based ones)?

edit:
btw, moock's book "essential actionscript 3.0" doesn't cover custom components either, stating
"this book does not cover component creation in actionscript. For information on components, see the appropriate product documentation"
well, a thorough scouring of adobe's site hasn't yet revealed any appropriate product documentation on component creation either.

... at least they pretended to cover components. Moock avoids it altogether. Since when did component development cease to be part of "Essential Actionscript"? Maybe if you're referring to designers and not developers ...


Chapter 1,  September 04 2007
Submitted by zzbama   [Respond | View]

Trying to wade through chapter 1 is an absolute nightmare. You need a previous course in OOP to even decode the subject matter presented. And while the content maybe accurate, the subject matter is definitely not presented from a beginners position. Really think the chapter needs to be rewritten with a novice/beginner in mind as the books description details. The chapter seems to be very difficult to digest the complete OOP language in a 42 page synopsis. I think Mr. Moock, which is an exceptional talent, does not remember what it is to be a novice to the subject matter. The initial subject matter is presented well, but seems to back track on itself. An explanation is given how to perform a certain task and then several paragraphs later you're told a different or better way to write the code or that the code presented will follow a different format from this point on. The details as to why are given, but only seem to complicate the subject matter. This is all very taxing on someone who is just trying to grasp the basics. After Chapter 1, the material seems to be very concise and to the point. The book does not illustrate much beyond ActionScript 3, if you're looking for a book to explain and illustrate Flash CS3, this is not the book. This is pure unadultered code and nothing else, with exception of one short and simple chapter deep into the book.
Hope everything ties together later on and the reading gets simpler. I've been on chapter 1 for a week now and will it give another week to explore. Then I will move on whether I understand Chapter 1 or not. Hope Mr. Moock will consider a revised Chapter 1, in a format that someone can understand.

Thanks,


One True Source for ActionScript 3.0,  July 22 2007
Submitted by David Heinecke   [Respond | View]

I’m a software engineer but a relative newcomer to programming with Flex 2 and ActionScript 3. I have been waiting for the definitive book on Actionscript 3 programming, as a companion to my copy of Programming Flex 2. Until now, I have made due with the online documentation and web searches for what I needed to know, but Essential ActionScript 3.0 has arrived and fits the bill nicely.

The author, Colin Mook, knows a thing or two about ActionScript programming and has obviously followed the evolution of the language from version 2 to version 3. The book has been reviewed by many engineers and architects at Adobe to ensure that, at the time of printing, the information presented is correct and up-to-date. It is also nice to know that the book is backed up by Oreilly’s Safari service for staying current, even though I tend to go to the online documentation to get my updates.

So how does the book stack up? At over 900 pages, it definitely passes the lift test. The book is divided into three main sections; ActionScript from the ground up, Display and Interactivity, and Applied ActionScript Topics. I spent a pretty good amount of time reading through the first section both to get a good sense of Colins’ writing style and because it was a very enjoyable read. The book does not assume that the reader has any prior programming experience, although any prior experience with object-oriented programming would be beneficial. The author starts out gently by explaining what objects are and how they are used in ActionScript. From there he guides the reader through the intricacies of object-oriented programming in ActionScript 3. Each chapter is devoted to a single topic and there is a running example of building a Virtual Zoo to help explain and illustrate the principles of each chapter.

When you get to part two (which is roughly a third of the book), you have a good understanding of ActionScript and, if you’ve been doing the examples, have some experience writing and running some fairly involved programs. The chapters of the second part then go into all the gory details of graphical programming with ActionScript. For many, this is where things get exciting as the author runs the reader through how to set up the Stage, create graphical objects, draw lines and blit bitmaps. Compared with the first part of the book, this section definitely has more “information density” and contains code samples that you will probably come back to a couple of times before you fully understand what is happening.

Part three of the book is a scant hundred pages long, and, to be honest, probably the least interesting part of the book. The chapter on ActionScript with Flash authoring is really only relevant if you are using the Flash Authoring tool. There is a token chapter showing a minimalistic MXML (Flex) program. There is also a chapter on distribution of your Class Libraries, which is probably the most useful chapter in this part of the book.

No book is perfect, and this book is no exception to that rule. There were a few small stylistic things that bothered me as I was reading. In the first part of the book, there are a few instances where the author forward references some keyword or concept to illustrate the current point. If you aren’t already familiar with that keyword, you have to jump to a later chapter to brush up before continuing. To the authors’ credit, he does tell you that when a topic hasn’t been covered yet and tells you which chapter to jump forward to if you want to know more about it before proceeding. Personally, this wasn’t a huge distraction because most topics were easy to figure out just from the context of the examples, but a reader without much programming experience might find himself jumping around a bit.

The part three chapters felt like they were just bolted on and didn’t really add very much to the book. Admittedly they might be of some value if you happen to be using the Flash Authoring tool or need some help with deployment of your libraries. I am mildly disappointed that there wasn’t a bigger chapter on Flex and MXML, but it is understandable given that Flex and MXML programming really are outside the realm of ActionScript programming.

I also found it sad that the quirky virtual zoo example was largely ignored during part two of the book. If anything, the virtual zoo would have made a great test bed for graphical programming topics. Fortunately there is an appendix that contains a complete code listing for the virtual zoo, including graphical elements, and the source code is downloadable from the author’s website.

I would definitely recommend this book if you are new to ActionScript programming and want “one true source” to get you started. In addition to being a gentle introduction to object-oriented programming, it nicely points out the ActionScript idioms and terminology. Although nothing will beat the online documentation for timeliness and correctness, Essential ActionScript 3 is a good place to start.



Essential ActionScript 3.0 is Even Better,  July 16 2007
Submitted by John Hall   [Respond | View]

I was new to OOP, having come from the timeline world of Flash. I tried Essential AS 2 and found it helpful to a point, after which the author seemed to presume that I had already worked with other OOP languages.

AS3 is just as comprehensive as AS2, for the advanced programmer, but so much easier for the beginning student. Colin spoon-feeds the basic OOP concepts for the first few chapters and then dives into getting work done with AS3.

What a joy to read! I'm finally creating projects, instead of readying code samples, like I did in EA2.

This is a great reference and teaching tool. If you work with Flash or Flex, this is a "must-have" for your library.



Sochi 2014 !!,  July 05 2007
Submitted by SmivaL   [Respond | View]

YeeeeS!!!

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