Macromedia Flash(TM) 5 Developer's Guide
Authors: P. S. Woods
Venue:  (2001)

From the Book:This book is a resource for experienced Flash developers to dig deeper into their favorite tool. While the scope is immense--everything I can think of that is related to Flash-there are many detailed examples, including a vast number of code examples. The overarching concept behind the book, from cover to cover, is to give the reader exposure to all the different issues in Flash development. Because I believe that the best way to learn is by reading a short description, deconstructing a simplified example, and then graduating to examples of increasing complexity, that is how I arranged each topic in each chapter. Every introduction I can remember reading gives some kind of prescription for the order in which to read the text. However, I have never known two readers to approach an educational text with the same goals, so I won't make such a declaration. What I can do is give you a few hints about how the book is arranged. Each section covers a huge slice of the spectrum of Flash development topics; and each chapter represents a specific subject. Within each chapter, the text and examples progress from general and simple to specific and more complex, such that you could probably pick up at the beginning of most chapters, given a solid background in some kind of scripting. Nearly every concept in the book is illuminated in an example. A few of the examples are fun and silly; but the majority are stripped of context and focus on the concept they illustrate. The relevant code from each example is reproduced in the book within a contextual discussion, so that you can simultaneously view the output and code of a single example. Who Should Read This Book Macromedia Flash 5 Developer's Guide is for any novice to advanced Flash developer who wants to probe deeper into the tool and its scripting language. This book is not for beginners, as no discussion of basic skills is included. It picks up where the factory documentation leaves off. If you feel confident in basic skills like animation, drawing tools, importing media, etc., and want to learn more about advanced Flash techniques, this might be a good book for you. If you are accustomed to organizing a Flash movie according to the timeline-based Flash 4 paradigm, but would like to learn more about controlling your Flash applications with ActionScript alone, this is a good transitional guide. The chapters in the first part, by necessity, use timeline-based organization. In the section on ActionScript, the examples graduate in sophistication until you are using a single frame and dynamically pulling Movie clips from the library, moving them, and removing them using scripting. If you have mastered the basic visual skills in Flash, but lack experience in scripting, don't worry-the part on JavaScript serves as an introduction to both basic scripting concepts and ECMAScript (the standard on which both JavaScript and ActionScript are based). What's in the Book The book is arranged in six parts, representing the major divisions of Flash development as I see them. The parts are as follows. Flash Components Part I covers specific techniques and subtle aspects of the native, non-scripting related tools within the Flash development environment. Topics include animation, file size optimization, and a very general discussion of how digital audio works. Flash and the Web Browser Part II offers both an introduction to JavaScript and a range of HTML considerations concerning Flash. Two full chapters are devoted to JavaScript, which serve as a suitable introduction to ActionScript. So much space is devoted to JavaScript for two reasons. First, JavaScript by itself is useful to any developer who works in any close proximity to web output-Flash definitely qualifies there. Second, JavaScript is so similar to ActionScript, from core concepts to syntax, that many scripts can be ported from one to the other with no changes whatsoever. If you are new to the ActionScript-or even to the Flash 5 flavor of ActionScript-this is a good primer. ActionScript Part III is the largest section and the focal point of the book. Flash's native scripting language and its capabilities were greatly expanded in version 5 and now require a lot of attention, time, and energy to master. Topics range from simple flow control to building data-driven XML applications. Connectivity and Server-Side Processing Part IV focuses on free and open-source server-side tools that are useful to Flash developers. By the end of the section, you will be able to build data- and media-driven Flash applications using PHP, MySQL, XML, and Swift-Generator. Much of the attention in this part is given to setting up a web server on your desktop machine that you use for Flash development. If you don't already have such a setup, it is well worth your time to go through this process. You will save as much time on your next data-based Flash project as you will spend setting up the server. Flash Peripheral Issues & Getting the Most out of Flash Part V includes a single chapter that gives a broad overview of 3D topics, along with an introduction to modeling in 3D using the free (and very cool) Strata 3D package. There are also examples of animation in Swift 3D with detailed discussions, and a rundown of the unique new tool Amorphium Pro. And, to wrap up the book there's a chapter with general tips for organizing your Flash workspace and optimizing your workflow. Subjects range from how to save code snippets to basic tips and tricks with vector illustration tools.