I just want people to know, that unless you already program (especially in AS2) AND know some simple flash, this book is not for you.

It does not go over programing. It assumes you know all of the syntax, and all regular programing functions.

If you do not know any programming languages, move away from this book.

I know php, but I would still not recommend it at all. It never goes over why you do what you do. It uses OOP for everything, but never has you actually make anything with multiple classes (other than the simple var ball:Ball = new Ball() ). It has you put :void at the end of functions without telling you that if a function is not returning a value, you need this.

Granted im only several hundred pages in, but I have read every word so far.

On the other hand, if you are coming from AS2, get this book.

cerupcat - 28 June 2008 12:50 PM

MY favorite book that got me up and running in the least amount of time is “Foundation actionscript animation: making things move!” After reading chapter 2, I knew enough to start.

Thanks for that noverflow. If you want to save a few bucks flip through the pages first before you buy any book. This way you know what your getting into. I do want to say that I used AS2 for websites and never for OOP I did read this book and It helped me a lot. So take it as you may

Hey Justin
you mentioned this book in the thread: Learning ActionScript 3.0: A beginner’s guide
is it good? i have a little bit of programming experience - basic, VERY little c++, and i want to learn AS3. how is this for a relatively-beginner actionscript programmer?

thx a lot!
rbedi100

I found this book to be a huge help to me and I’m also a beginner

Cool, awesome. I’m going to pick it up off amazon! Did you use Flash CS3, flash develop, or flex builder (or some other program)? I have access to Flex Builder at home, and Flash CS3 at school...which does it help most with?
thx again
rbedi100

I just started using FlashDev but I would say whatever your comfortable with. Flash is a good place to start because most people use that and it is harder then FlashDev. When you jump to FlashDev you should code faster w/ the built in help and the fact you have been using a harder program. If it were me I would use both of them at school and FlashDev and Flex at home. Hey maybe we could code together on something small. I need as much practice as possible.

hey justin
ok, that makes sense.
coding something together sounds like a great idea - PM me and we can talk about something...let me know. i need practice too…
sounds good!
rbedi100

Im looking for a book on AS3.

Something that will take me from beginning to end. Everything from strong type variables and functions, the whys and hows, to the end.

Im looking for something that at the end I will not only know as3, but understand it why it is done the way it is.

For instance, I know that a function named the same as the class will run once the class is called, but why do you sometimes just have init(); in said function, then go ahread and put all the code in the init function? Why not just put it all in the top function?

This is the type of thing I want to understand better.

Any suggestions?