3 items found in ActionScript.

Foundation PHP 5 for Flash

David Powers

friends of ED, 2005

This is a book I wrote myself, so the review is by no means impartial. I think it's the best thing since sliced bread. I hope you do, too.

Are you a reasonably experienced Flash user who has certain mastered the basics, but wished you could take your SWFs further into the realm of dynamic data rich applications? Well, look no further.

Foundation PHP 5 for Flash brings together three of the web's hottest technologies - Flash, the server-side language PHP, and the MySQL database system. It's bang up to date, using ActionScript 2.0, PHP 5.0, and MySQL 4.1, but has been designed to be version-neutral. In other words, you can be confident that you're working with the latest standards, but that your applications won't break if deployed on an older server. The book also provides a brief introduction to an alternative database system, SQLite, which is now automatically bundled with PHP 5 and requires no installation.

At each stage in the learning you are given an overview of a new area of PHP/MySQL, introducing you to the syntax while showing how it compares to ActionScript, and how it integrates with Flash to produce increasingly complex applications. For example, earlier chapters cover things such as getting data from PHP to Flash and back again, variables, arrays, string manipulation, validating user input, and feedback forms. Later on, you move on to more advanced subjects such as creating databases with MySQL Monitor and phpMyAdmin, manipulating database data through a Flash interface, displaying data from an RSS feed in Flash, persisting data with sessions, and creating a full blown content management system.

In addition, to get you up and running, the book features a detailed guide to setting up your environment - PHP, MySQL, and the Apache web server - along with extensive troubleshooting information.

PHP is the language of choice on nearly 18 million domains, and MySQL has more than five million active users, including industry leaders like Google, the Associated Press, Sony, and NASA. They're open source and free; and with the help of this book, you'll see that they're easy and fun to learn.

Flash MX 2004 ActionScript: Training from the Source

Derek Franklin & Jobe Makar

Macromedia Press, 2004

As someone already familiar with ActionScript 1, I've used this book to dip into, rather than follow the 20 lessons in strict sequence. I hadn't used Flash for a while, and wanted to get up to speed quickly with ActionScript 2.0 and things like version 2 components and the Shared Object. Although each lesson is meant to take one and a half to two hours, most of them are split into discrete sections that can be completed on their own; and the accompanying CD-ROM contains .fla files for each stage, so it's easy to pick up and leave at any point.

The book follows strict ActionScript 2.0 data-typing, but the instructions are easy to follow, and accompanied by succinct explanations of the underlying theory and language structure. The logical layout means I often turn to this book as a reference, but I expect I'll no longer do that when something more substantial comes out, such as Colin Moock's "Essential ActionScript 2.0" or Sham Bhanghal's "Designer's ActionScript Reference".

The book is targetted primarily at people with little or no experience of ActionScript, and it should certainly give them a strong foundation in all basic aspects of scripting for Flash. What it lacks in comparison with Sham Bhangal's "Foundation ActionScript for Flash MX 2004" is the sense of fun or the feeling that you're building something that eventually ties all together. Because each lesson involves one or more standalone projects, no clues are given as to how different elements might be made to interact in a complete application. Another disappointment was that the LoadVars and XML lessons work only with ASP. Nevertheless, it's a good, solid book that will appeal to many.

Foundation ActionScript for Flash MX 2004

Sham Bhangal

friends of ED, 2004

I first learned ActionScript from this book's predecessor (Foundation ActionScript for Flash MX), and wondered whether it was worth getting this new edition. But since the publishers offered me a free copy, who was I to refuse? I'm really glad I got it, though. What's important about this revised edition is that it covers ActionScript 2.0, the new standard introduced in Flash MX 2004 and compatible with Flash Player 6 and upwards (in other words, the vast majority of Flash Players already in use). Although I've had Flash MX 2004 since it first came out in September 2003, I've been so busy writing my own books about PHP and Dreamweaver, I hadn't bothered to upgrade my ActionScript skills. Now was my chance to do so.

Many of the examples in this book are the same as in the previous edition. At first, that was a disappointment. Then I realized just how useful this was, because all the ActionScript has been rewritten to the much stricter data-typing standards of AS2. By setting the old book and the new side by side, I was able to see immediately how to convert from the old to the new. For new readers, of course, everything is new; and learning to code correctly from the start is a massive bonus. Let's make no bones about it: AS2 is more difficult to get to grips with than the older version. But one thing I've learned with all programming languages is that learning to do things the "easy way" is always a mistake. Unlearning bad habits later is far more time consuming and frustrating than getting it right in the first place.

On that note, I must make my only real criticism of the book. In the first printing, at least, there are a lot of careless errors in the code. They're printing errors, mind you, not bad code. Most of the typos are pretty obvious, and shouldn't put off an intelligent reader. What's more, all the correct code is available in the download files. Still, it's a shame, because it spoils what's otherwise a great book.

What appeals to me very much about Sham Bhangal's style is that he makes learning a complex subject fun. A lot of the examples are game-based, but there's plenty of serious material in there, too, for anyone planning to use Flash to develop rich internet applications. The final chapter covers Flash MX 2004's new version 2 components, and listener events - crucial to anyone developing a business-oriented application. Equally, the Futuremedia case study that runs throughout the book demonstrates that Flash is not just for games or quirky animations. It's an elegant and sophisticated website interface driven by some pretty impressive scripting.

This is very much a hands-on book that teaches you through practical examples. Athough everything is presented in a logical manner, it's less useful as a reference book. Sham's not ignored that side, though. He's currently working on a new version of the Designer's ActionScript Reference, which should be out some time in late 2004.