When you need to get the job done fast, you'll reach for this practical, nuts-n-bolts toolkit. Rather than focusing on ActionScript in the abstract, this Cookbook puts theory into practice with ready-made answers to common ActionScript problems. Flash MX developers can solve issues quickly, while learning practical techniques for resolving similar dilemmas in the future. ActionScript has blossomed into a large and important language whose sheer volume of capabilities can be daunting. The ActionScript Cookbook breaks it all down into tasks that are relevant, practical, and insightful. Appealing to the budding coder as well as the experienced ActionScript jockeys, this book offers new perspectives and approaches to ActionScript development that will empower all developers. This O'Reilly Cookbook complements ActionScript for Flash MX: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition by providing quick solutions to common ActionScript problems. This book trades on our respected "Cookbook" approach, which provides a worked-out script for every problem addressed. You can use these "recipes" to solve an immediate problem, and then explore the issue further in The Definitive Guide when time permits. The ActionScript Cookbook contains over 300 recipes on a myriad of topics. Here's a sampling of what you'll find:

• Drawing shapes at runtime

• Controlling movie clips programmatically

• Accepting user input and manipulating text strings

• Accessing audio and video via Flash Communications Server

• Working with Flash Remoting to connect to back end databases

• Using record sets with data grids

• And, much, much more in over 20 recipe-laden chapters...

• Building a Flash Paint Application

• Creating a Video/Chat Message Server Application

• Creating an MP3 Jukebox

• Creating a personalizable MyPage Application

This Cookbook's logical progression from short recipes for small problems to longer, more complex scripts for thornier riddles allows developers to link modular ActionScript pieces together to create rock-solid solutions for Flash applications. If you prefer to see larger applications instead of atomic recipes, this Cookbook has a kicker -- seven full chapters of sample applications including: The ActionScript Cookbook is for people who say, "I understand everything in theory, but I don't know where to start in practice." This book is all about practice.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 22 Ratings

warning - 2005-06-29
Reviewer Rating:
this is a great book but it will not work with macromedia mx 2004 unless you set the export setting to flash player 6.

I got this notice from the author himself.

mx 2004 cookbook should be comming out in september 2005

~mark

extremely helpful, even under Flash 8 / AS2 - 2006-01-13
Reviewer Rating:
The Actionscript Cookbook is an extremely useful resource for aspiring and veteran designers. I've been designing/developing since Flash 4 and I still found this book very insightful and full of great hints and explanations.

A decent book for beginners but better for intermediate to advanced developers and designers. I'd recommend Colin Mook's Actionscript for Flash MX (also by O'Reily) which explores more fundamental concepts in Actionscripting 1 which are still pertinent in many cases to AS2.

I appreciated the code examples, although admittedly I think I did remember finding a few errors, however the errors were on the nitpicking typo level and I usually found after getting annoyed thatI hadn't written the code correctly.

Their example on Storing Persistent Shared Local Objects (flash cookies) was particularly useful.

Well organized and clear (and no, I'm not affliated with O'Reilly, lol)

Too Many Examples DO NOT WORK - 2005-05-26
Reviewer Rating:
I hate to write a bad review. I really do. But here's the deal: if you're just starting out with ActionScript, and you type in some of the examples in the book (several, actually) they will not work.

This is frustrating beyond belief.

I'm using FMX 2004 Pro, and every other example of code that I've tried to use just flat out will not work.

Sorry.

GET IT!!! - 2004-04-08
Reviewer Rating:
Get this book. That's really all that needs to be said. I'm a java guy learning flash, and what works best for me is a collection of practical (and useable in the real world) applications. That's exactly what this book is. And it's not the same thing you read in almost every programming book: 'this is a loop, this is a variable, this is a method...'. Useless stuff you have to wade thru to get to the meat. (...). I'm on MX 2004, and the book is for MX. (...) I can't wait for the next addition!!!

Great reference book - 2005-10-14
Reviewer Rating:
This book is one of the few Action Script books that specifically covers Flash Communication Server. Using this book I was able to build a chat server as well as a flash movie that could connect to it and have many clients interact with each other.

Good Book!

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