Flash MX 2004 ActionScript: Training from the Source Macromedia Press, 2004
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. |
JavaScript Bible: 5th Edition (Ebook) Wiley, 2004
See the print version entry for a review of the contents. |
JavaScript Bible: 5th Edition Wiley, 2004
Danny Goodman's JavaScript Bible is, without doubt, the most comprehensive treatment of JavaScript you could wish to find. It's part tutorial, but mainly a reference book, with copious examples of JavaScript in action. In fact, that was the major complaint with previous editions. The book had grown so big, you had to flip backwards and forwards between the printed book and the accompanying CD-ROM, which contained hundreds of pages (and were not printable). For the new edition, Danny Goodman has slimmed it down (it's still more than 1,200 pages!) - what you see is what you get, although there's apparently some bonus material for advanced readers on the accompanying CD-ROM. Nevertheless, bringing all the core material into the main body of the book will, no doubt, be a major relief to most people. Danny really knows his stuff, and he writes in a very straightforward style about what can, at times, be a confusing subject. The new edition has also been brought up to date to cover the latest browsers (the fourth edition stopped at IE5.5 and Netscape 6, before the emergence of Safari or Firefox). I've got quite a few books on JavaScript, including Danny's "Dynamic HTML", so may not rush out to buy the new edition, but for anyone with a serious interest in the subject looking for the book to buy, this is probably the one. It's also available as a ebook (listed separately). |
Foundation ActionScript for Flash MX 2004 friends of ED, 2004
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. |
Regular Expression Pocket Reference O'Reilly, 2003
Anybody attempting to learn Regular Expressions (not the easiest of subjects) from this book would be totally lost. At the moment, the unsurpassed source for that is Jeffrey Friedl's "Mastering Regular Expressions" (also published by O'Reilly and reviewed separately). In fact, the two books are designed to go together. The pocket reference tells you where to find a more detailed explanation of many issues by giving the page number in Friedl's book. What I find particularly useful about the pocket reference is that it is divided into sections covering Perl 5.8, Java, .Net and C#, Python, PCRE Lib, PHP, vi Editor, JavaScript and Shell tools. For each one, it gives a full listing of the metacharacters supported and a brief description of functions associated with regular expressions. When switching from JavaScript to PHP and vice-versa, I find this essential, as each implementation of RegEx has its own peculiarities. You could probably find similar information online and simply print it off, but I find the book format much more convenient. And it is something I've slipped in my pocket to read in spare moments. |
JavaScript by Example Prentice Hall, 2003
Sadly, the book is far from perfect. There are a lot of minor mistakes in the code - something an experienced scripter would spot quickly, but likely to trip up a beginner. One particularly bad example is a table in Chapter 5 where the equality (==) and identity (===) operators get mixed up, defeating the purpose of demonstrating the difference between them. It's also quite clear that Ellie Quigley is no web designer. All the examples look as though they're out of the mid-1990s, using tacky colours and inline font markup. However, the book is particularly strong on two important aspects of JavaScript - form handling and validation. Whereas most books on JavaScript devote a few pages to regular expressions, Ellie Quigley devotes a whole chapter 80 pages long to them. In spite of its faults, definitely worth considering. |
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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.
This is the ebook version of the latest edition of Danny Goodman's classic work on JavaScript. What's unusual about it is that it's printable, although at more than 1,200 pages, you'd certainly want to think twice before printing out the whole lot. The format is Adobe Reader 6, which is fully compatible with Windows, but requires Mac OS X 10.2 or higher to run. It can also be transferred to PalmOS, but not PocketPC or Symbian devices.
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.
This is a very slim volume (less than small 100 pages), and literally does slip into your pocket. On the basis of cost per word, it works out as quite expensive, but I've found it invaluable. That said, it's definitely not for everyone. Like all O'Reilly pocket references, it's designed for people who already know a fair bit about the subject, but need the bare essentials at hand.
Finding just the right book to start learning JavaScript from is not easy. Some books concentrate a great deal on theory without explaining to newcomers how it all fits together, while others show how to do things, but leave you wondering how to move on. Ellie Quigley's book offers a middle path - not only showing how things are done, but also explaining how the scripts work. As the title suggests, the book is full of examples - hundreds of them - and each one is accompanied by a line-by-line explanation. It's an excellent way of building up a good understanding of the mechanics of JavaScript.