[Rich_Shupe,_Zevan_Rosser]Learning ActionScript 3.0(pdf){Zzzzz}

If you're new to ActionScript 3.0, or want to enhance your skill set, this bestselling book is the ideal guide. Designers, developers, and programmers alike will find Learning ActionScript 3.0 invaluable for navigating ActionScript 3.0's learning curve. You'll learn the language by getting a clear look at essential topics such as logic, event handling, displaying content, classes, and much more.

Updated for Flash Professional CS5, this revised and expanded edition delivers hands-on exercises and full-color code samples to help you increase your abilities as you progress through the book. Topics are introduced with basic syntax and class-based examples, so you can set your own pace for learning object-oriented programming.

Harness the power and performance of ActionScript 3.0
Control sound and video, including new access to microphone data
Create art with code by drawing vectors and pixels at runtime
Manipulate text with unprecedented typographic control
Animate graphics, create particle systems, and apply simple physics
Avoid common coding mistakes and reuse code for improved productivity
Load SWF, image, text, HTML, CSS, and XML file formats, and more

Authors Rich Shupe and Zevan Rosser draw on their experience as Flash developers and instructors to give you a solid ActionScript foundation, revealing ways you can use code for practical, everyday projects.

Publisher: O'Reilly Media; Second Edition edition (November 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 144939017X
ISBN-13: 978-1449390174


Editorial Reviews
Book Description
A Beginner's Guide

About the Author

Rich Shupe has been teaching ActionScript programming to students of all levels since the language became available. He founded his own training and development company, FMA, in 1995. A recognized authority on several technologies, including Flash, Director and QuickTime, Rich is a full-time faculty member in the Computer Art Department at New York's School of Visual Arts. Learning ActionScript 3.0 has been called "the best book on ActionScript ever written," by evangelist and Flash community leader Lee Brimelow.

Zevan Rosser is a freelance designer/programmer/consultant and computer artist. He teaches ActionScript and Flash animation at New York's School of Visual Arts and FMA. When he's not working on commercial projects he works on his personal site, http://www.shapevent.com.

More About the Author
Biography
Rich Shupe has been teaching ActionScript programming to students of all levels since the language became available. He founded his own training and development company, FMA, in 1995. A recognized authority on several technologies, including Flash, Director and QuickTime, Rich is a full-time faculty member at New York's School of Visual Arts' Computer Art Department. His highly acclaimed "Learning ActionScript 3.0" has been called "The best book on ActionScript ever written" by evangelist and Flash community leader Lee Brimelow.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Awesome Followup
By The Retropunk on March 24, 2011
This 2nd Edition of Learning Actionscript 3.0 by Rich Shupe is one of the best books I've come across for transitioning from AS2 to AS3.
If you have been afraid of AS3 or OOP (like I was) then this book is for you. It will help you understand the fundamentals and get you started on some advanced topics from a user-friendly point of view.
The unique thing about this book is how it uses concepts we already understand (cars, planes, etc) to ease you into OOP. The author has a knack for explaining things in a very straight forward manner without overwhelming you right away with terms like encapsulation and polymorphism.
I like the intro about Procedural vs OOP. Since I came from a design background with no OOP experience, it's refreshing to hear how OOP can sometimes be overkill and sometimes it's the only way to go. You also don't have to know or use OOP to use AS3, thats also a common misconception.
For me personally I use this book sometimes as a reference but often as just a good read (nerd alert!) A great companion book is Object Oriented Actionscript 3.0 by Peter Elst, Sas Jacobs and Todd Yard. It helped me when I wanted to go more in depth with OOP. Also check out Colin Moocks Essential AS3 book and Joey Lotts Design Patterns book. All must haves.
Some of the more memorable moments from Learning Actionscript 3.0 are the notes in the sidebar of certain pages. There are tons of great links to AS3 libraries that are a must! There is a nice snippet on Garbage Collection that really helped me get it when there was hardly anything to be found from Adobe! Thanks Rich!
Another thing I am excited about is the use of the companion site for updates and bonus chapters. Thats a smart idea. If they keep that up you'll really get your moneys worth.

Excellent Resource for Learning AS 3.0
By Rachel on August 5, 2011
I'm currently on a mission to build an efficient AS flash website, and this book has been the most helpful by far for helping me on my quest. Before this book, I struggled through spotty references and pulled my hair out while waiting to get responses to my questions that were posted via online forums. I now have it sitting on my desk and it is filled with post-it notes, highlights and dog-eared pages. Everything flows in a logical order, yet you can still flip to different chapters to follow different exercises and not get lost. I especially love the downloaded examples and lessons... there is no greater way to learn. A quote by Lee Brimlow on the cover states that this book is "The best ActionScript book ever written," and I think that pretty much sums it up. Great job Rick and Zevan!

Great, great book for teaching yourself, and great resource down the road.
By Emily on July 27, 2011
I used Learning Actionscript 3.0 A Beginner's Guide to learn AS3 for a work project. I'm a designer that now uses Actionscript and other forms of code to make interactive graphics and the book is perfect. It's advanced enough to cover things I need to know for my projects, but written in a way that someone without a programming background can understand. I've used my copy of the book every time I've worked on a new project, so it's a great resource beyond the first project you learn from. I would recommend this book above any other, even online learning tutorials.