I am currently trying to learn AS3 and this was one of the first books I bought. I bought it because in a cursory way, the book seemed to begin by quickly moving into OOP and I thought it would expand on the subject from there. But frankly the strength of this book is it's weakness. It treats every subject at the most basic, most simplistic, easy to understand way possible, but never every goes into any depth.
Essentially if you have never programmed before, and want a quick reference guide to extremely basic syntax, this is a good choice. If you are looking for something that goes into any depth, and has coding examples that are longer than 5 lines long, get something different. And if you are looking for something on AS3 Object Oriented programming steer very very clear because this book has absolutely nothing on the subject beyond one preliminary chapter, and a few other minor references.
Author(s): Rob Huddleston
Publisher: Visual
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 388
ActionScript: Your visual blueprint for creating interactive projects in Flash® CS4 Professional......Page 1
Table of Contents......Page 9
How to Use This Visual Blueprint Book......Page 15
Introducing Flash......Page 17
Understanding Flash Player 10......Page 19
Introducing ActionScript 3.0......Page 21
Create a New Flash Movie......Page 23
Using the Actions Panel......Page 25
Understanding Object-Oriented Programming......Page 27
Understanding ActionScript Syntax Rules......Page 29
Create a Variable......Page 30
Understanding Data Types......Page 31
Test Your Flash Movie......Page 33
Concatenate Strings......Page 34
Trace Variables......Page 35
Create an Array......Page 37
Add and Remove Elements from an Array......Page 39
Create an Array in an Array......Page 41
Create a Generic Object......Page 43
Add Constants......Page 45
Add Comments to Your Code......Page 46
Understanding Coding Best Practices......Page 47
Draw Shapes in Flash......Page 49
Introducing Symbols......Page 51
Create a Symbol......Page 53
Insert and Name an Instance......Page 55
Set Instance Properties Using the Properties Panel......Page 57
Set Instance Properties in Code......Page 59
Perform Simple Mathematical Operations......Page 61
Perform Complex Mathematical Operations with the Math Class......Page 63
Generate Random Numbers......Page 65
Create Instances of the Date Class......Page 67
Perform Math on Dates......Page 69
Write a Function......Page 71
Call a Function......Page 73
Pass Data to Functions......Page 75
Return a Value from a Function......Page 77
Create a Package......Page 79
Create a New ActionScript File......Page 81
Create a Custom Class Skeleton......Page 83
Define Properties of the Class......Page 85
Create a Constructor......Page 87
Define a Method......Page 89
Extend a Class......Page 91
Using a Custom Class......Page 93
Define a Document Class......Page 95
Get and Set Class Properties......Page 97
Add a Static Property to a Class......Page 99
Create an Event Handler......Page 101
Call an Event from a Button......Page 103
Define Events in a Custom Class......Page 105
Remove Event Listeners......Page 107
Using the Target Property......Page 109
Stop a Movie......Page 111
Go to a Specific Frame in a Movie......Page 113
Add Code to a MovieClip’s Timeline......Page 115
Control a MovieClip from the Main Timeline......Page 117
Work with the Stage in Code......Page 119
Add MovieClips to the Stage through Code......Page 121
Add MovieClips to the Stage through Code......Page 123
Remove Elements from the Stage......Page 125
Create a Dynamic Text Field Visually......Page 127
Create a Dynamic Text Field in Code......Page 129
Create an Input Text Field Visually......Page 131
Create an Input Text Field in Code......Page 133
Work with TextField Events......Page 135
Find Characters within Strings......Page 137
Manipulate Strings......Page 139
Get Pieces of Strings......Page 141
Convert Data Types......Page 143
Understanding the TextFormat Class......Page 145
Apply Formatting to a Text Field......Page 147
Using HTML Text......Page 149
Write an If Statement......Page 151
Using Else and Else If Clauses......Page 153
Test Multiple Conditions......Page 155
Replace If/Else Clauses with a Switch Statement......Page 157
Write a For Loop......Page 159
Write a While Loop......Page 161
Loop over an Array......Page 163
Using the EnterFrame Event......Page 165
Animate MovieClips That Scale and Fade......Page 167
Change the Speed of Animation......Page 169
Using the Timer Class......Page 171
Create Tweens in Script......Page 173
Ease Tweened Animation......Page 175
Allow Users to Drag and Drop Objects......Page 177
Animate in 3D......Page 179
React to a Key Press......Page 181
Using Keyboard Constants......Page 183
Understanding Sound in Flash......Page 185
Add a Sound to the Library and Play It......Page 187
Load and Play an External Sound......Page 189
Avoid Errors Due to Loading Delays......Page 191
Pause and Resume Sounds......Page 193
Control Sound Volume......Page 195
Display Information about Sound Files......Page 197
Convert Video to Flash Video......Page 199
Using the FLVPlayback Component Visually......Page 201
Using the FLVPlayback Component in Code......Page 203
Go Full Screen......Page 205
Add Closed Captioning......Page 207
Add Closed Captioning......Page 209
Style Closed Captions......Page 211
Understanding XML and E4X......Page 213
Embed XML in ActionScript......Page 215
Read XML......Page 217
Filter XML......Page 219
Write XML......Page 221
Load XML at Runtime......Page 223
Download the Apache Web Server......Page 225
Install the Apache Server......Page 227
Download Adobe ColdFusion......Page 229
Install ColdFusion......Page 231
Download PHP......Page 233
Install PHP......Page 235
Send Data to the Server......Page 237
Create XML with ColdFusion......Page 239
Create XML with PHP......Page 241
Read Data from the Server......Page 243
Read Data from the Server......Page 245
Draw Lines in Code......Page 247
Draw Curves in Code......Page 249
Draw Shapes in Code......Page 251
Create Fills......Page 253
Transform Visual Objects......Page 255
Add Filters through Code......Page 257
Cache Vectors As Bitmaps......Page 259
Draw a Bitmap......Page 261
Add an Image to the Library and Create a Bitmap from It......Page 263
Understanding AIR......Page 265
Create a New AIR Application......Page 267
Digitally Sign Your Application......Page 269
Detect User Inactivity......Page 271
Allow Users to Save Data......Page 273
Appendix A: ActionScript Class Reference......Page 275
Appendix B: ActionScript Operators Reference......Page 369
Appendix C: Supported HTML Tags......Page 371
Index......Page 373
