It is a challenge to write a book that will be helpful for a wide audience without weakening its effectiveness for any one group. Flash 4 Bible rises to the challenge, providing a clear and thorough introduction to Flash 4 for beginners as well as a comprehensive guide to the application's more complex features, like ActionScripting, for intermediate and advanced users. No one gets short-changed here. The first third of the book maps the user interface and introduces the tools for creating animations and working with sounds.
Charts help organise operators and properties.
The last chapters cover distributing the Flash movie, either within a Web page, as a QuickTime movie, or as a standalone. The uncluttered writing style of the book pairs well with the equally clear and well-captioned screen shots. As Flash is a complicated application, the book's simple layout and non-jokey text tend to quickly diminish reader confusion. The book even anticipates common questions in sidebar Notes and Tips. And over 600 pages of small steps can take you pretty far.