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.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 77 Ratings

Essential is a Very Appropriate Title - 2009-11-16
Reviewer Rating:
No matter if you are new to actionscript 3.0 or a experienced developer - you have to have and read this book. It's simple like that. It is, as the title says, essential. For me, besides having access to great explanations about how actionscript works, which is something you will not find anywhere else, this book helped a lot to improve the way I was writing my code - and I am not a developer, just a nosy designer.

Good book, far from great - 2009-10-29
Reviewer Rating:
For starters, the book is definitely not geared for beginners. The author jumps into concepts that beginners won't understand. I've been programming for more than 10 years so I had no problems understanding the content... but be warned if this is your first programming book. Furthermore, he constantly tells the reader to "jump to chapter X" if you don't understand something. As a result, Moock totally failed at giving a start-to-finish explanation of programming (regardless of language).

I'd say that the first 1/3 of the book is pretty well done. The explanation of ActionScript's syntax is excellent. Moock has you building a "Virtual Zoo" application as you go through each chapter, adding new features to the application with each new concept...

...but then he abandons the whole "Virtual Zoo" application as you enter the second and third parts of the book. There is an appendix at the end of the book which offers the full application code, but it would have been awesome if Moock continued to illustrate how to use each concept in the context of building this application. Instead, he has about 1 1/2 pages telling you what he added, gives you the code, and expects you to figure out what the hell he did.

I'll be honest and say that I had to skim most of the second and third parts of the book. With no reference to the "Virtual Zoo" application and crappy, non-real-world examples the later chapters are pretty dry.

On a positive note, Moock does an excellent job explaining the details of each class he discusses. The definitions are clear. But because there's little reference to real-world application (again, in the later chapters) they're just hard to digest without slamming your head against a desk.

If the book weren't advertised as a beginner's book, I would have given it 3 stars. It's a nice reference book for ActionScript 3.0 -- but I've learned more in a few days of searching Google than I did from the final 2/3 of this book.

"The" Flash Resource for Programmers - 2009-10-28
Reviewer Rating:
Chapter 29 was fundamental and contained the information I could not find described anywhere else.

If you are a programmer familiar with other languages, and you are accustomed to using the index of a manual to find out all the information that you need about a new language, then this is "the book" to use to start learn Flash; and Chapter 29 is the first and only Chapter to read straight through.

Why? Because if you are a programmer, you are going to find actionscript easy. There will be some things you need to know about the language; and the index of this book will lead you right to any such information. But the thing you are really going to want to know is how to get your actionscript to be run.

I looked "everywhere" for the information about how actionscript is bound to Flash and there were two problems in my way. First, Flash is targeted at designers more than programmers. Consequently, the focus of Flash "how-to" materials is on creative people trying to animate something. In these materials any use of actionscript is a distraction -- an incantation that is mentioned and glossed over rather than explained. Second, I could not find keywords to get the information on the web.

Chapter 29 fixed all that for me. It is a bottom's up explanation of Flash that talks about the Flash basic constructs and how actionscript is bound into these constructs.

excellent - 2009-10-03
Reviewer Rating:
it may be possible to learn actionscript with no previous knowledge using this book and for the dedicated individual i would encourage it. it's a much more complete explanation of how things actually work instead of just throwing code at you to copy. it'd take you a lot longer to get up and running than from a book strictly for beginners but at the end you'd be a lot better off. yeah the first chapter being about classes is a little heavy, but making your main class is the first thing you'd normally do. may as well get in the habit early.

i would say the audience that could get the most benefit from this are those who have a good understanding of some other language and would like to apply that to the particular syntax of actionscript. i learned to use as by reading through the language reference, and this book was helpful in filling in some gaps in my knowledge.

An Exciting "Must Have" But Not an Introduction - 2009-09-08
Reviewer Rating:
I came to this book late, after it had been out nearly two years. I had bought Colin Moock's original guide to ActionScript for Flash MX (that would be ActionScript 1.0, by the way, in 2002) but never made much use of it.

Now that I know a lot more, I find this version a very entertaining and useful guide, with step-by-step introductions to the complex areas of AS3. I think it would be fair to say that only advanced developers bothered with classes and OOP code prior to AS3; most people just put ActionScript code on the timeline or avoided it altogether. Colin recognizes that the majority of Flash people need an introduction to what a class is, and what a document class is, and why one might want to encapsulate all the little minor supportive classes in a package. He has a clever method of illustrating this, creating a "virtual zoo" with a vast number of classes.

Don't start with this book if you have never programmed in any ActionScript nd want an introduction; but if you have even slight experience with Flash and AS3, you'll find this informative and readable.

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