As a web developer/programmer who actually loves what he does, I often try to pick up and learn new things. I already knew AS2 when I bought this book last year, and it made the transition to AS3 a breeze. As with all programming books, it is IMPOSSIBLE to be perfect, but this is about as quality as you can get, great examples, great explanations.

This book covers the most important aspects of the ActionScript 3 language, giving a step by step and detailed explanation of programming language and graphics API; easy and clear examples help to figure out how to apply what it explains in each chapter. Good choice if you are starting from zero with ActionScript 3, but also a nice reference for who comes from previous versions of the language.

I am amazed at how thorough and organized this book is, but it is from a programmer's perspective. Some people said that this AS 3.0 book is not as good as his previous AS 2.0 book, but I disagree. Adobe has made major changes to the language, which (unfortunately) coerces ActionScript programmers into using object oriented programming techniques. This makes programming more difficult for designers, and more palatable for many programmers. Please don't blame Colin Moock for Adobe's changes ... he has done a brilliant job explaining the new ActionScript.

I think far too many people are used to reading For Dummies or Head Start books and they have forgotten how to learn. The few low scores this book has received are due to a couple of factors: 1. The readers don't have the mental capacity to grasp the concepts. 2. They're trying to read through the book without memorizing keywords and concepts (this lead someone to refer to the nomenclature as technical jargon which it is not). 3. They want to start creating immediately and jump right into applicable content instead of starting off with the basics and building on them.

This is by far the most precise programming book I've ever read. I love his clear and concise style of writing and simple definitions. It is NOT a "For Idiots" style book. Moock Defines keywords in one sentence. It is imperative that you memorize the keywords and concepts before moving on. Work through the code until you understand it. I spent about 50-60 hours in the first 6 chapters.

I really like Colin Moock's work, his first book on Actionscripting, taught me how to program in Flash and was a great primer for learning scripting, The book on AS 2 was a bit duller to get through and not quite as informative, but it was still OK. This book however, is an absolute pain to get through, it is disjointed and has you doing tons of stuff with no reasoning behind it, the script samples are crude and don't stand alone like they did in the first two books. I don't recommend this book at all. I am looking for something better that will go back to the basics like the first book did. This one assumes "you know" many things already.

AS3 really came as a shock to me, because I never wanted to become a programmer. I am a designer, and I enjoy working with color and pattern. But, I needed to be able to use Flash CS3, so I reluctantly decided to dive in. I tried the online courses, I went to an expensive classroom with an Adobe certified teacher, and I picked up a couple other books, and all these things helped even though they also caused a lot of frustration. This book just states the rules in the first half, and it's tough to get through, but it's doable, even for a beginner, if you can take a deep breath and relax, and you need to read this stuff, so you have a general knowledge of how the language works. It's like learning a new foreign language. It's boring to read the rules of grammar, but you need to get the hang of it, try it out, see how it sounds, and even if you skim Part 1, it's valuable. Part 2 gets into display techniques, and you need these as well. Part 3 prepares you for entrance into a field of professionals. Don't give in to frustration. Just read the book. It won't be the most pleasant thing you ever did, but it'll be well worth doing. Given what the author was attempting to do, I can't imagine it being done any better.

I read a lot of programming books. I write a lot of code. I have more programming experience than I care to admit, over a dozen languages under my belt, 16 I am almost sure. So I think I am qualified, at least as a consumer, to criticize this book.

I am, however, somewhat new to Flash, ActionScript, et al. Actually I think that helps my perspective, rather than hurts it.

The title contains the word "Essential". I don't think it is, and I also think that connotes "fundamental" and could lead newbie programmers to extrapolate that to "ActionScript 101". Beginning programmers or AS2 scripters should not buy this book if that is what you are looking for, because it is well into intermediate programming territory and that alone will cause you unnecessary trouble. Get a more fundamental book like Learning ActionScript 3.0: A Beginners Guide by Shupe and Rosser. You will learn more faster by starting there.

Advanced programmers with backgrounds in other languages looking for a pure and complete treatment of the language might be disappointed to find out just how incomplete this text is. The author spends as much time referring you to the official Adobe documentation as he does writing about the subject of the book, AS3. If you want to argue that ActionScript 3.0 is too large and too complex to cover in a single volume, let me tell you, C# is much more complex than ActionScript 3.0 and Andrew Troelsen pinned C# to the ground in a single large book in a very clear and readable way.

The author doesn't seem to have clearly delineated who his expected readers were before he wrote this. Some of the material is for coders new to OOP, other chapters jump into heady stuff for advanced programmers, then drops back to intermediate level material, back to basics, then advanced, bouncing around like yo-yo all over the place, but giving nothing a complete treatment.

The coverage of E4X was excellent. The chapter on namespaces was incoherent. Back and forth, back and forth for almost 1000 pages. By the end, I was convinced that I would have spent my time more fruitfully by just reading the Adobe documentation and skipping this book.

Another gripe, that I can also make about many other programming books, is that since this is an update to an earlier work, by now all of the text should have been squeeky clean, but it is not. It contains errors, typos, etc. Unacceptable for a book is an update of an earlier work.

Is this book useful or relevant at all? Yes, but only in the way that listening one half of a phone conversation is; you can learn some things from it, but either have to make a lot of educated guesses about things or pick up an extension to hear the other party before you have a completely formed understanding of the subject.

One last thing should be said, and this applies to far too many books today. Commerce is destroying both art and science. Holy wars rage on between the largest companies that sell products to programmers and users alike, and trickles down to the rival factions of developers and writers that support each of them. Case in point: How does one write a 1000 page tome of a derivative of the C language and not once mention C#? The author mentions C, C++, Java, and JavaScript but patently refuses to put the characters "C" and "#" together in any sentence of this book. Raise your hands, how many people program in "C" today? Now how many program in C#? Point made.

Programming is at least as much art as science. For software developers, having an opposable thumb is not as important as having the capacity for abstract thought. And yet in the huge mass of written material and training sources of every kind, we now have divided ourselves into camps. Either you are a Microsoft supporter, or you are everyone else. Why is this? Why feign ignorance of C# when clearly it is both derivative of every C based language before it, and an improvement on all of them?

In terms of sheer numbers, there ultimately be more C# programmers than Java programmers who will make the effort to learn ActionScript as it evolves. That may already be the case. Is it wise to ignore them when you are attempting to gain critical mass for ActionScript/Flash/Flex/AIR? You already know the answer to that.

It is naive to think that this fracturing of the programming community is going to cease anytime soon, if ever, but it is a shame. Programming is hard enough without vendors making matters worse by promoting the Us vs Them mentality. We have to make all of this stuff work together in our concrete applications because no language or product is an island, especially given how the internet is evolving. _We_ have to connect the dots, but the firms selling us our tools are intentionally making that difficult to do for competitive reasons. Adobe is not going to put Microsoft out of the language compiler business. Microsoft is not going to put Adobe out of the rich content tool creation business. I am not saying "why can't we all just get along?", I am saying go sit in the corner for a time-out and stop making my work hard just to line your pockets. It is funny how the harder Microsoft tries to change its ways and be more of a team player, the more other companies adopt Microsoft's most heavy-handed tactics from 5-10 year ago. Yes you Adobe, Google, Apple. Rather than waste time money and energy giving me Flash/Flex/Air and their contradictions and absence of a cohesive programming model, give me a killer, native Windows IDE that rivals Visual Studio 2008, and one uniform way to write all ActionScript apps. FlexBuilder 3 isn't close to what I am looking for. Don't concentrate your resources on fighting Microsoft because they scare you, just give me great tools to work with and I will use them. That would not only help developers, but it would also help authors like Mr. Moock by making his job easier as well.

Consider buying this book after you understand ActionScript 3.0 pretty well, and haven't found adequate coverage on specific things like E4X. Just know that by then, a large part of this book will be a rehash for you. Essential ActionScript 4.0, when that is written, will hopefully show that the author has made a decision about who his audience really is. It does include C# programmers, likely many more than you might think. But just as importantly, the author should consider the level of programmer he wants to write for. If he want to address us all, I recommend that he takes a good look at Pro C# 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Platform. Writing a well rounded treatment of any programming language is not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination, but it can be done.

I read a lot of programming books. I write a lot of code. I have more programming experience than I care to admit, over a dozen languages under my belt, 16 I am almost sure. So I think I am qualified, at least as a consumer, to criticize this book.

I am, however, somewhat new to Flash, ActionScript, et al. Actually I think that helps my perspective, rather than hurts it.

The title contains the word "Essential". I don't think it is, and I also think that connotes "fundamental" and could lead newbie programmers to extrapolate that to "ActionScript 101". Beginning programmers or AS2 scripters should not buy this book if that is what you are looking for, because it is well into intermediate programming territory and that alone will cause you unnecessary trouble. Get a more fundamental book like [[ASIN: 059652787X Learning ActionScript 3.0: A Beginners Guide]] by Shupe and Rosser. You will learn more faster by starting there.

Advanced programmers with backgrounds in other languages looking for a pure and complete treatment of the language might be disappointed to find out just how incomplete this text is. The author spends as much time referring you to the official Adobe documentation as he does writing about the subject of the book, AS3. If you want to argue that ActionScript 3.0 is too large and too complex to cover in a single volume, let me tell you, C# is much more complex than ActionScript 3.0 and Andrew Troelsen pinned C# to the ground in a single large book in a very clear and readable way.

The author doesn't seem to have clearly delineated who his expected readers were before he wrote this. Some of the material is for coders new to OOP, other chapters jump into heady stuff for advanced programmers, then drops back to intermediate level material, back to basics, then advanced, bouncing around like yo-yo all over the place, but giving nothing a complete treatment.

The coverage of E4X was excellent. The chapter on namespaces was incoherent. Back and forth, back and forth for almost 1000 pages. By the end, I was convinced that I would have spent my time more fruitfully by just reading the Adobe documentation and skipping this book.

Another gripe, that I can also make about many other programming books, is that since this is an update to an earlier work, by now all of the text should have been squeeky clean, but it is not. It contains errors, typos, etc. Unacceptable for a book is an update of an earlier work.

Is this book useful or relevant at all? Yes, but only in the way that listening one half of a phone conversation is; you can learn some things from it, but either have to make a lot of educated guesses about things or pick up an extension to hear the other party before you have a completely formed understanding of the subject.

One last thing should be said, and this applies to far too many books today. Commerce is destroying both art and science. Holy wars rage on between the largest companies that sell products to programmers and users alike, and trickles down to the rival factions of developers and writers that support each of them. Case in point: How does one write a 1000 page tome of a derivative of the C language and not once mention C#? The author mentions C, C++, Java, and JavaScript but patently refuses to put the characters "C" and "#" together in any sentence of this book. Raise your hands, how many people program in "C" today? Now how many program in C#? Point made.

Programming is at least as much art as science. For software developers, having an opposable thumb is not as important as having the capacity for abstract thought. And yet in the huge mass of written material and training sources of every kind, we now have divided ourselves into camps. Either you are a Microsoft supporter, or you are everyone else. Why is this? Why feign ignorance of C# when clearly it is both derivative of every C based language before it, and an improvement on all of them?

In terms of sheer numbers, there ultimately be more C# programmers than Java programmers who will make the effort to learn ActionScript as it evolves. That may already be the case. Is it wise to ignore them when you are attempting to gain critical mass for ActionScript/Flash/Flex/AIR? You already know the answer to that.

It is naive to think that this fracturing of the programming community is going to cease anytime soon, if ever, but it is a shame. Programming is hard enough without vendors making matters worse by promoting the Us vs Them mentality. We have to make all of this stuff work together in our concrete applications because no language or product is an island, especially given how the internet is evolving. _We_ have to connect the dots, but the firms selling us our tools are intentionally making that difficult to do for competitive reasons. Adobe is not going to put Microsoft out of the language compiler business. Microsoft is not going to put Adobe out of the rich content tool creation business. I am not saying "why can't we all just get along?", I am saying go sit in the corner for a time-out and stop making my work hard just to line your pockets. It is funny how the harder Microsoft tries to change its ways and be more of a team player, the more other companies adopt Microsoft's most heavy-handed tactics from 5-10 year ago. Yes you Adobe, Google, Apple. Rather than waste time money and energy giving me Flash/Flex/Air and their contradictions and absence of a cohesive programming model, give me a killer, native Windows IDE that rivals Visual Studio 2008, and one uniform way to write all ActionScript apps. FlexBuilder 3 isn't close to what I am looking for. Don't concentrate your resources on fighting Microsoft because they scare you, just give me great tools to work with and I will use them. That would not only help developers, but it would also help authors like Mr. Moock by making his job easier as well.

Consider buying this book after you understand ActionScript 3.0 pretty well, and haven't found adequate coverage on specific things like E4X. Just know that by then, a large part of this book will be a rehash for you. Essential ActionScript 4.0, when that is written, will hopefully show that the author has made a decision about who his audience really is. It does include C# programmers, likely many more than you might think. But just as importantly, the author should consider the level of programmer he wants to write for. If he want to address us all, I recommend that he takes a good look at Pro C# 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Platform. Writing a well rounded treatment of any programming language is not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination, but it can be done.

The detailed instructions of this manual make easy to understand these extremely complex concept. I think all programming manuals should be written like this one.

If you have a good background in Computer Science and you are brand new to ActionScript and Flash in general you will be frustrated.

If you want to use Adobe Flex Builder (free for 90 days) and you go by this
book then you'll find that none of the examples in Part I will give you anything, but an idea. If you want to evolve the discussed example you'd have to wait till Part II. Meaning by the time you get to do anything you'll loose any desire to evolve any of the examples from part one.

I prefer to evolve the discussed example so I can remember it.
For example Reader exercise on page 211, tell you to first read Part II of the book to come back and actually do it. That means I have to suspend my ongoing learning (including my desire) and skip ahead. Annoying.

As an interface designer I've been working with Macromedia products since 1992. I feel that regarding the interface aspects of designing and producing a multimedia application the products have just devolved over time. I'm glad that Macromedia is no longer around and hope that Adobe will do better on this aspect.

Actions Script 3 is just the last nail in the coffin of my relationship with this products: how can it be that at this point in time it take this book more than 600 pages to get to a level were you can actually move a movieclip on the stage? Were are the introductions to the readers that come from ActionScript 1 and 2 to at least make it easier for them to get up to speed?

I think that Colin Mook's other books on the subject are good-the Actionscript 2 one was very good- but the amount of work that this one ask of the reader and the level of abstraction of the language truly trumped all my attempts to actually getting anything done.

At more than 900 pages this is a heavy burden to carry around, but no electronic version comes with the book. I had to download one from bittorrent ,even though I bought one here in amazon, just to be able to search thru it and have it always with me. in the end the book is just sitting on a shelve collecting dust, I rather work in actionscript 2 for the time being.

Spend your money elsewhere unless you already work with OOP at a fairly advanced level ( JAVA for instance): you will make a better investment in paying someone to code for you if in a hurry.

Boy how I miss Mtropolis!

I mean in actionscript 3.0 you define variable as var x:int = 10 not var x = 10; that makes me confuse that it will deviate from standard later in book so why to continue. But like the style which is good for beginner who is not good at OOPS...

Excellent. This book was recommended to me by a colleague, and I can't recommend it enough.

As a C# and VB.NET programmer, I had plenty of experience to jump into the middle, but I found myself enjoying the early chapters so much that I decided not just to skim them, but to read them as carefully as the rest of the book. And in doing so, I was rewarded with tidbits of information that I would have otherwise missed.

Anyone who wants a thorough understanding of ActionScript 3.0 would find this book incredibly valuable.

Great book, well explained, very complete on all topics... in my opinion a must for all flash-developers. Even if there might be chapters you might want to jump as an experienced professional, this book is the perfect reference to sit on your desk and help you out when you don't know or don't recall some issue or maybe want to know the most accurate form of doing something.

i got this because i wanted to learn actionscript 3.0 and was a big fan of moocks essential 2.0 book. what a disappointment. heres why:

1. moock overexplains the simplest of concepts (trace functions, if statements, there was literally 10+ pages explaining the simple mathematical operators, which are the same as as2, of the language).

2. moock dispite at least 50 pages in the beginning of the book did not get near anything through to me nor will he get anything through to you. the beginning of the book is the core concepts like eh said but without learning the core concepts you wont understand any other part of the book.

3. he uses technical jargon that really only expert c++, java, as3 programmers would understand. we know your an expert moock but we however are not, and much of this this not getting through to me, an experienced as2 programmer, it will definitely not get through to someone new to flash.

4. essential means absolutely necessay and he uses habits which are anything but that. who needs classes and packages! i dont b/c he cant explain them to me.

i have every as3 book and the best i would recommend is the as3 bible. it has everything moock tries to expalin in half the pages and with less useless tech jargon.

This book is made for programmers by programmers. If you are coming from the design world you can skip this book as it will only confuse you even more. In my oppinion you need to be an experienced programmer to really get some benefits from this book.

Even if all the concepts are explained from zero, the language and concepts used from chapter 1 asume you already know how OOP programming works. That's not bad by itself... it's great as a reference book or if you are comming from Java or C++, but not so much as a learning tool for non initiates.

I would recommend this book better if you are more interested in learning
Learning ActionScript 3.0: A Beginner's Guide

This book has a very good way of presenting the steps necessary to learn, review or go deep into ActionScript 3.0. A big book, but if you want to put all that stuff together there is no other way. This is really more than essentials.

If you are considering ActionScript 3.0 this is the book you will want to get. It is like taking a really good college class - well planned out with examples that build up but are general enough to cover what you will want to know.

As usual , Colin moock how are great he is in writing books about ActionScript , Colin is well known expert and know by his expertise every single issue about flash and ActionScript ,everyone will notice that in this book , What I like about this book Colin knows when put his notes and define terms and he knows exactly when he will answer you before some question comes to your head , this book contains three parts first part contains core language and subjects related to object oriented programming like inheritance , interfaces , talking about topics that effect in Swf file performance like garbage collection, talking about XML and E4X , Events , the second part talking about Display and interactivity , this part talks about how to deal with visual objects specifically texts , shapes , Bitmap, and also talks about loading external display assets and how to use ActionScript to produce Animation , the last part contains three chapters talks about dealing with Flash pro CS3 and flex builder 2 .

Required for flash developers

Once again Colin Moock provides us with the most comprehensive disection of Actionscript available. Aessential Actionscript 3.0 is the Gospel of AS3. If you are moving up from AS2, this book is all you will need. However, if you are a newbie, I suggest finding a more introductory book first.

I have over 13 years programming experience in many languages and I would not recommend this book, even for an advanced programmer as google is way more effective at getting you definitions -not unlike a dictionary, which this book is. It does not assist with visualizing or understanding concepts. I would recommend ActionScript Design Patterns instead. For examples and actual learning, the Cookbook series would be easier for beginners and users reference (or google). However, if you do like wading through physical dictionaries as much as you do 4 inch thick whitepages vs using speedial... by all means, this book is for you.

I've been an Actionscript programmer for many years. This book an incredible resource for developers who know Actionscript 3.

To teachers and those thinking this is too complicated... it isn't. Actionscript 3 is heavily object oriented, and if you considered yourself experienced with Actionscript 2 without knowing or using object oriented programming, then you don't really know Actionscript 2 either!

This covers tons of questions, the only problem is that there needs to be a new edition to include/reference current open source projects utilizing Actionscript 3 (APE, Box2D, Papervision, ASWing). It'd also be nice to know how to hack SWF files a bit and actually manipulate sound (as Andre Michelle has done). More application examples using ByteArray would be a nice addition too, as ByteArray has become a very powerful AS3 component for advanced flash applications.

Overall, this is an excellent resource for those who are familiar with Actionscript 3. It's not a great textbook for a class unless the teacher is familiar with Actionscript 3. It's clearly written, concise, and is not "too technical" as other reviewers have claimed.

If you don't understand Actionscript 3 it's probably because you don't understand object oriented programming and design. You're probably used to timeline based development and timeline based code (which isn't a bad thing, but it doesn't make you fluent with Actionscript 1, 2, or 3).

I first learned Actionscript with Moock's original ActionScript : The Definitive Guide which I thought was remarkably well written and laid-out. For a non AS programmer at the time it very effectively got to the core of the language so that the reader really understood the language.

I think he's attempted to do the same thing with EA3 but it's not nearly as well written or concise. I've been writing Actionscript for 6 years now and I find this book really confusing. Particularly as I learn more about AS 3.0 the more I'm realizing that it's a substantially different language then 2.0 and I find the book doesn't really address this. Because of this I approached the jump from AS 2 to AS 3 the same way I approached the jump from AS1 to AS2. I've tried using the book as a guide as I've worked on a new project when really you have to read it completely through.

Perhaps my beef is more with Adobe. I'm a designer and intermediate AS programmer. I've created programs and sites using only custom classes and was starting to think of myself as an advanced AS programmer until AS 3 came out. I like flash because it has ridden the fence between design and programming but it feels like the geek's are winning out and the application is becoming less and less accessible to non programmers.

I'm going to continue to trudge through the book and hope that there's light at the end of the tunnel.

I am a beginning ActionScript programmer, and I wanted a reference that would teach me how to get the most out of AS3 and Flash. I started with ActionScript 3.0 for Adobe Flash CS3 Professional Hands-On Training, but that left out too much important information about the structure of AS3. I also visited the Adobe site and downloaded a bunch of ActionScript documents, but I like rigorous, exhaustive resources.

I think Moock strikes the right tone. This is not a "for dummies" book. This is a dense, rich resource for people serious about learning object-oriented programming using AS3. Moock presents a lot of ideas, terminology, and explanatory information. The material is demanding, but Moock's text is easy to follow. It helps to download the Adobe pdf document, "Programming with ActionScript 3.0". It helps to Google the strange words and to actively analyze the examples. It helps to take notes and to study the material.


This book is not a how-to guide as much as it is an education in programming. It's also full of surprises. I had no idea that ActionScript was also the basis for Flex. I had no idea Adobe published a free Flex developer's kit with a compiler. I would never have thought to go looking for any of that. But if you write AS3, you can also write Flex programs. To me, all that is unbelievably cool. It opens unexpected new possibilities for using ActionScript. This book is an outstanding reference and introduction to programming. Colin Moock, thank you.

If you are seriously looking for the true holly grail of Actionscript 3, then you have found it with this book. Look no further!

Colin Moock is the master, the Obei Wan Kenobi of Actionscript.

Take your phone of the hook though, it comes with 912 pages of intense reading.

I have been very impressed with this book. I have a very limited knowledge of programming, and no real practice, and I'm about 1/2 way through the book so far, and I've actually understood almost all I've read! I recommend this book to anyone learning Flash CS3 or AS 3.0

This book is awesome.

I learned Actionscript 2.0 through the school of hard-knocks and forums. It was my first real programming language so I learned what it did but not really anything about classes and the construction of flash programs.

This book is extremely detailed, including everything about AS3 such as Object Oriented Programming, constructing classes, and explaining every part of each class. I'm only on page 100 (of 900), but so far, this book exceeds my expectations. If you're worried about any of the negative reviews, just buy this book. It is amazing and was totally worth logging into Amazon and posting this review for.

I am an experienced Java developer with minimal experience with ActionScript. I think this book does a good job at covering alot of ground that most enterprise Java developers would be interested in understanding. I would not use it as a primer or as a way to move from using AS1/2 as a scripting language to a full blown OO language. The book feels tailored to helping me use my current skillset to understand AS3.

So if you have a background in Java (or C#) and want a good general reference the ActionScript3 as a language for the Flash platform and/or using the Flex Framework, this should be a good book for you.

Now, I consider myself fairly versed in ActionScript 2.0, so I bought this book to get acquainted with ActionScript 3.0. 75 pages in and I'm completely lost.

The vocabulary is hard to comprehend without previous programming experience, the instructions are awkward, incomplete and badly explained. Throughout, the author adds more code to the instructions with no explanation as to why he is doing it, then removes it several steps later. From the start, this makes his instructions nearly impossible to follow because its hard to tell what he's actually doing and what he's hypothetically doing or suggesting that you could do.

As a graphic designer, I wanted to become more versed in the technical side of Flash and thought this book was the essential resource on 3.0, so I was expecting some pretty dry language and material. But, every time I pick this thing up, I get so frustrated and have to stop after only a few pages. Granted, I haven't even scratched the surface of this book and may learn to love it later, but as of right now, I would almost certainly send it back for a more basic reference that I could actually understand (had my girlfriend's stupid cats not gotten a hold of it and chewed the cover to shreds).

Certainly not recommended for anyone who is not EXTREMELY well-versed in programming language. And while I'm at it, how about a (current) ActionScript dictionary???

This book is a great resource for anyone wishing to gain a solid understanding of Actionscript 3.0. Colin Moock taught me Actionscript from scratch, and inspired me to continue my development with enthusiasm and confidence. If you are serious about learning Actionscript 3.0, whether as a beginner, or as a seasoned coder making a migration from Actionscript 2, but don't know where to really start, then use this book as your definitive resource as an introduction and in concert with any others you feel comfortable with.

For those just beginning in Actionscript 3 or object oriented programming (OOP), Colin Moock provides a thorough, yet easy-to-understand introduction to core concepts and theories while providing a methodic and detailed study of the areas of Actionscript that are essential to writing great code. While this book may seem a bit intimidating to the beginner that wants to just jump in a start coding right away, the payoff and value of this title becomes apparent by the end of the introduction and first chapter on Core Concepts. The reader is introduced to the history, main concepts, terms, definitions, and processes that go into grasping and writing code with Actionscript. I had no real programming experience prior to reading this book, but was able to read (and understand) Actionscript within the first 100 pages. But this title is also great for those who are already proficient in Actionscript 2, and need to learn enough about AS3 to make a smooth migration while maintaining the leverage of their experience and command of AS2. Colin points out key differences between AS2 and AS3 in a way that is non-threatening. Actionscript 3 is basically a new language compared to AS2; it is a full-fledged object oriented programming language with strict rules and syntax. But it is presented here in a way that is inspiring instead of intimidating.

This title will go into more depth than any video training or book you will find on the subject. Colin presents his lessons step-by-step using a 'Virtual Zoo' program that evolves from chapter to chapter as your understanding of the topic progresses. Most chapters are relatively easy to digest, but require you to think...and process the information for a while...to fully absorb the concepts that were just presented. Each chapter progresses a bit on the previous chapters. Beginners and seasoned coders alike will start to notice that many of the questions you were afraid to ask elsewhere, are answered here. More importantly, as you read each chapter, Colin masterfully presents information that has you asking questions that become answered within a few pages or chapters. He even points out where to find the information in later chapters in case you become curious to explore a topic that you are currently reading through. I found that i could only read through about 50-100 pages per day if i really pushed myself; not because the concepts or writing style were too difficult, but rather because Colin Moock presents complex information in such a way that inspired me to peer beneath the surface and really contemplate what I had just read. If you are serious about learning Actionscript, you will do yourself the favor of allowing yourself the time to absorb the key concepts presented in this book.

Essential Actionscript 3.0 is divided into three main parts:

I. Core concepts and an introduction to foundation Actionscript terms and elements. This basically runs provides an in-depth exploration of Actionscript from it's inception to the latest release in 3.0. You will learn what a function is, and how to write one while distinguishing the subtle difference between a method and function. Colin presents topics such as conditionals and loops, variables and methods, inheritance, data types, interfaces, statements and operators, arrays, event handling, scope, namespaces, and working with XML while quickly providing you with the ability to read and write AS3 using dot syntax. You'll completely understand how to write a class and a package, and how to organize them easily. I promise you will feel very confident in your understanding of AS3 by the middle of this section. You will feel like you can read any AS3 code and understand what's going on, and whether it is re-usable code, or whether it was slapped together by someone trying to just get something done. You will likely understand by this point, that writing Actionscript is both an art and a science--and that every coder has his or her own style. The key to this book is that it gets you to a point where you can start to develop your own style without wondering if you have a firm grasp on the Actionscript language. You will be at a point where you can feel comfortable tackling any code or concept without being intimidated. More importantly, you will learn that there is a simple pattern and set of rules for reading and writing solid Actionscript code. Once you get to this point, you'll feel like nothing is too complex to understand or develop.

II. Display and Interactivity. This section introduces and explores concepts necessary to create display elements and interactivity to your code using Actionscript 3.0's new display API and display list. The display list is new in AS3, and Colin explains why it is much more powerful, and ultimately easier to work with than in previous versions of Actionscript. Moock walks you through handling events and display hierarchies...discussing the event model and event flow. You will learn to write custom events with confidence, or at least understand them well-enough to know the questions to ask if you get stuck. Next, he moves on to adding interactivity with mouse and keyboard events...and more advanced events. You will be introduced thoroughly to programmatic animation, drawing with vectors, using bitmap data from loaded and external sources, working with static and dynamic text objects, and loading external display assets.

III. Applied Actionscript Topics. This section ties all that has been explored through this title together in a manner that you will understand when it comes to applying it to real-world projects. Colin doesn't leave you hanging with just a great introduction to key concepts; he shows you how to apply it...how to think logically when you approach applying it. And, he shows you how to write classes of code so they are reusable, and how to organize them so you can share easily with other programmers.

This book is not the only book on Actionscript you will ever need. You'll want to learn about design patterns in OOP and Actionscript. And it may not be the first resource for gaining an introduction to Actionscript 3. But once you have a basic understanding or interest in coding with Actionscript, this book becomes an invaluable tool. It will provide you with in-depth answers to questions that you won't get from video training or classroom lessons, or may feel intimidated by asking at user groups or workshops. In fact, you will get more from such training once you've read through this book, or parts of it. I have found that many seasoned Actionscript developers lack much of the understanding that come with reading through this book. In short, reading Essential Actionscript 3.0 by Colin Moock will accelerate your learning curve and evolution as a serious Actionscript developer. You will feel a sense of accomplishment just by gaining insight into a topic you previously may have thought too intimidating or daunting. You will realize that your journey as a programmer has just begun. But you will progress and grow with more confidence, and get more from any other source, by having read this book first.

After reading this book, I felt like I was on my way to becoming a successful Actionscript developer. And you will, too.

First off, I agree with previous reviews that said its overwhelming for a LOT of people. That first chapter is a doozy.

Where I also have a problem with this book is how it instructs. I've been able to follow along with the coding but the author's explanation and instruction are lacking. Its obvious that he is very knowledgeable but he doesn't do a good job of passing that knowledge on. He's all over the place, explaining some things in depth, but not touching on other things you'll have questions about. At times it will feel like he is totally scatter-brained or ADD because he'll be going on about something inconsequential, while ignoring something else that you really want the answer to. Despite it being 900+ pages, I've had to go online to find answers to fill holes in his teaching. But also it feels at times like he's trying to talk over your head and give you the official-to-the-letter-Help-menu definition. I know there's a better way to teach people this stuff, and I've read books that do that.

I give it 3 stars just for the shear quantity, and I appreciate the effort. I just wish this book was not only packed with information but also taught it well.

As a Adobe Certified Expert in Flash 8.0, I found this book almost unreadable. It is actually a "textbook" example of why some techie types make the worst teachers or writers. It is also a clear case of some readers being influenced by the overhype of a book, as it was considered a classic before being released. As someone who studies almost 40 hours a weeks in over 10 Graphic Design disciplines, you tend to know good stuff from the bad. I know doubt that Albert Einstein knew his stuff, but I want someone to help explain the stuff, not complicate it. A major disappointment.

Essential. That sums it up.
This books is a excellent book when dealing and understanding AS3. If you have come from various other programming languages like Java, C++ or any object oriented programing language you will understand the first 5 chapters easily. The rest of the book explains and gives examples of various other aspects, of the language that you will use when developing with it.
I also purchased ActionScript 3.0 Bible and like I said for that review both books are great but some times one does a better job at explanation on various topics then the other.
In the Essentials you have the option of going through the book and building an example program as you understand more concepts. This is great for beginners coming into programming if this is your first programming language. If you are not a beginner the book is kinda self explaining, which is great when building a project.
Please be aware that this books does not means explain how to use flash or flex. The sole purpose of the books is to teach and understand ActionScript 3.0. This is the programming language that the Flash 9+ supports. If you are looking for a book on how to develop in flash or flex I suggest a actual book targeted at flash for flex. Know this though if you are a excellent ActionScript 3.0 developer you can do almost anything in flash and flex, which would take twice as long in the their respective IDEs.

I have been using this book to learn what I can about ActionScript. At my job I work closely with several programmers who work very much with ActionScript (as well as PHP, HTML, and JavaScript). I wanted to understand better everything that was going on, and I wanted to learn how to do simple fixes with ActionScript myself, so I bought this book. I have been 100% pleased.

I have very little programming experience. (I learned HTML in 8th grade so I could build my own web-page.) This book does an EXCELLENT job of explaining, from the ground up, class and object oriented programming (which is handy not just for ActionScript, but for many other languages as well). My one caveat is that having an extensive background in computers is good, as well as having someone who DOES know ActionScript who can answer your questions. While everything is in the book, it is covered at a fast pace, and you could possibly get confused if you're started literally from scratch. But then again, that's basically what I did, and I love it.

This is a great book for beginners to programming in general, but would also make a GREAT book for anyone who is just new to ActionScript. Definitely 5 stars. I would recommend to anyone.

The book is very helpful if you have action script background. My transition from 2.0 to 3.0 was made easy due to this book. The text is very simple to read, though a lot, it shows an example then explains how the code works. You have to go through the first couple of chapters to get the gist of as 3, but after that you can jump to any chapter...otherwise you will be very lost since you have to set certain things in order for the coding to work.

I am a Flash instructor and developer (many years working in AS 1.0 and 2.0) and received this book from the publisher to consider as an advanced Flash class textbook.

There is no way I would inflict it upon even the most advanced Flash user.

Reviewers Twain and Lazaris both hit the nail on the head in their detailed reviews below. Even for a pretty advanced Flash developer like myself, who just wants to get current with AS 3.0, this is a nearly impossible read. You don't have to be a programmer to understand Flash, but you do have to be one to understand Moock. He clearly knows ActionScript backwards and forwards, but he has never been able to teach it well.
If you have to re-read a book three times, or wait a year and revisit it after you've learned the topic elsewhere, it is NOT a 5-star book. 5-star books make immediate sense out of complex topics. This book merits 2-3 stars at most; if you haven't already learned to program in another language, this book won't be very helpful to you.

I am a Flash instructor and developer (many years working in AS 1.0 and 2.0) and received this book from the publisher to consider as an advanced Flash class textbook.

There is no way I would inflict it upon even the most advanced Flash user.

Reviewers Twain and Lazaris both hit the nail on the head in their detailed reviews below. Even for a pretty advanced Flash developer like myself, who just wants to get current with AS 3.0, this is a nearly impossible read. You don't have to be a programmer to understand Flash, but you do have to be one to understand Moock. He clearly knows ActionScript backwards and forwards, but he has never been able to teach it well.
If you haven't already learned to program in another language, this book won't be very helpful to you.

I completely agree with the reviewers who gave low ratings. I am a Flash instructor and developer (many years working in AS 1.0 and 2.0) and received this book from the publisher to consider as an advanced Flash class textbook.

There is no way on earth I would inflict it upon even the most advanced Flash user.

Twain and Lazaris both hit the nail on the head in their detailed reviews below. Even for a pretty advanced Flash developer like myself, who just wants to get current with AS3.0, this is a nearly impossible read. Colin Moock clearly knows ActionScript backwards and forwards, but he has never been able to teach well.

Among all the AS3 books out there, this is a great book! If... You are an EXPERIENCED programmer with a few years or more of industry programming background. I would not present this book to a non-programmer or someone with very little programming experience, otherwise you will 'die on the vine' with all the technical jargon in this book. I see some people misinterpret the title ILLUSTRATED. It does illustrated the constructs of code building, not in terms of pics or graphics. I am new to ActionScript and Flash, but not to programming. I own a soft copy of this book, but have purchased a hard copy. This book thoroughly explains the topic to its 'nuts and bolts' level for programmers that is easy to follow and understand. If you truly wish to learn ActionScript 3.0 from the bottom up and you are an experienced programmer, this is the book to do it with. This book will make an excellent reference when needed on occasion, too.

This review is more of a 'heads-up' for any beginners considering this book. There are many reviews here telling about the book's contents, so I am going to talk about the level of the book instead.

I think it is important to state that this book is in NO WAY aimed or intended for beginners. None of the books in this series are, for that matter. Being fair, and I think this information is important for people even though a bit off topic: O'Reilly RARELY makes beginner level books. What they do make is insanely useful technical books which will tell you more than you probably ever wanted to know about a subject. But they are done, IMHO, very well. Still, when looking at books to buy I think it is important to keep this in mind, particularly if you are a beginner in any topic. Especially because most programming books are rather spendy.

When I bought Moock's first book, I had been using AS for a couple years (starting from Flash 4) and was still a beginner. However, I could manage my way through the very limited scripting options. When Flash 5 opened up the AS language to a full-blown environment, I was excited to get his book. Once it arrived, I was completely overwhelmed and immediately put it away. For about a year. During that time, I found other materials and boned up on my AS, THEN revisited the book. I found it much more useful.

When AS 2 came out, I thought the same thing. Ah-ha! I already know AS, so his book will get me up to speed. Wrong. The stuff which was pretty much lifted from the previous AS 1 book made sense, but I could not grasp what he was saying about the updates and new features in AS 2. Again, I put the book away for a year, found other resources to familiarize myself with, and revisited the book. I was surprised at the wealth of information I learned, but I learned it AFTER reading numerous other sources.

Leading to this book, I completely expect the same. I am buying it because I KNOW it will be a tome well worth the price based on my looking through it at local book sellers. No one, at least that I have read, has the depth of understanding of AS Moock does. He, IMHO, really understands the what and how. And he will tell you EVERYTHING about it. He does not, sadly, possess the 'layman language' to make this a beginner book. It barely makes sense to those well immersed in the topic. BUT, once you get to the level that you can absorb what he is saying, you catapult your Flash skills and usage.

For beginners, definitely start elsewhere. Books by Phillip Kerman or Joey Lott are marvelous entry level books. Both authors have a superior knowledge of Flash AS, but the also possess the ability to talk about it conversationally. A huge help in anyone's learning of a new subject. Flash AS is a huge uphill battle, but one which rewards richly for those who travel the path. I would just hate to have someone not try because they do not understand a book reportedly aimed at developers with 'no prior programming knowledge.'

If you are coming from AS 2.0 timeline scripting, maybe you should start from the end and read first the Chapter 29. The book needed to be wide enough to fit Flash, Flex and mxmlc so you might feel that the author is not speaking directly to you sometimes. It can make things harder to understand.

The book has many pages, but it is far from being definitive. There are a lot of topics that it doesn't cover. On the other hand, topics covered are very well explained and much can be learned from this book.

I just finished reading it and from now on it will be used as a guide together with the ActionScript Language Reference.
Also, I'll start reading another book which I hope may complement this one.

I've been getting deeper into "Essential ActionScript 3.0" and I'm amazed at the thoroughness of this book. I was first introduced to Colin's writing with "ActionScript for Flash MX, the Definitive Guide". I'd just came from two years of teaching Java for Sun Microsystems and loved the way he handled explanations in the book, often he'd even compare AS to Java and go deep in the details. With AS3, we finally have language rivaling Java, and (IMO) a better set of APIs.

The amount of information is stunning, it boggles the mind. Colin covers AS3 in more detail, with better explanations, and a better grasp of the subject than the Adobe documentation. If you are programming in AS3, this book is must. I don't think you could get the most out of AS3 programming without it, or maybe you could but it would take quite a bit longer!

A side-effect of this book is the shear size of it gives you an idea of the depth of the subject matter. AS3 is an object-oriented programming language and framework, not just a scripting language.

I just have two minor criticisms (which by no means affects my recommendation of this book). The first is that he covers a ton of material in the beginning but does not have the reader compile until chapter 7 (page 130). AS3 is so much fun in how easy it makes graphics programming, that I feel he could teach the first six chapters more effectively if he had the user compiling and running examples along the way (even simple examples). My second is one that is probably just my own pet peeve... at the end of each chapter he has a paragraph about the next chapter, it's distracting to me, I'd rather read about the stuff in the next chapter in the next chapter.

This is a well-organized, clearly written book, with great examples throughout. If you are coming to AS3, this book should be within arms reach if not already sitting open on your desk.

Coming from a java and javascript programming background I found this book very informative and easy to learn. This book is a must-have if you are new to AS3 and also if you want to learn FLEX 2. I highly recommend this book for beginners who wants to learn AS3 programming language.

Great reference. But if you are still learning, get another text with this one to guide you along.

ESSENTIAL ACTIONSCRIPT 3.0 by Colin Moock is for advanced programming libraries and for ActionScript web developers who seek a detailed reference on the topic. ActionScript 3.0 is a major upgrade to Flash programming: it's faster and more sophisticated and requires a deeper level of understanding - offered up by ESSENTIAL ACTIONSCRIPT 3.0 alone, making for an invaluable reference.

Overall, a comprehensive and possibly exhaustive treatment of AS 3.0. I bought this book after finding the author's Essential Actionscript 2.0 a very intelligent and accessible book on AS 2.

Essential AS 3.0 is highly recommended only to coders who are already familiar with programming lingo (no this does not include HTML or CSS). Unfortunately, some of the sophistry of Essential AS 2.0 emerges with remorseless abandon in this book which is choked full of sophistry and excessive erudition that serves nobody. Take this passage:

"object.instanceVariable = value


In the preceding code, object[italics] is the object whose instance variable will be assigned a value, instanceVariable[italics] is one of object's instance variables (as defined by object's class), and value[italics] is the value to assign."

The book italicizes the words noted in italics above but this notation does little to detangle the tautologies that explain nothing and confuse everything. Only seasoned coders versed in coding terminology such as "object" will understand the sentence and then only vaguely. Obviously, the first directive to coders, KISS, was lost on this exhaustive book.

I just received my copy of Essential ActionScript 3.0 by Colin Moock, and I am extremely disappointed. Not because the book has no value and will not be able to one day assist me as a Web Developer; I am disappointed because the book itself, (and amazingly, at least one reviewer on Amazon), claims that this book is suitable for readers that have "no prior programming knowledge" (1st page of the preface). That is the biggest marketing deception I have ever read in a computer book.

These are the topics discussed in Chapter 1 alone (after a 14 page preface that will leave you gasping for breath!): Runtime Environments, Compilation, Just-in-time Compilation, Classes, Objects, Packages, Access Control Modifiers for Classes, Constructor Methods, Variables and Values, Constructor Parameters and Arguments, Expressions, Instance Methods, Method Parameters and Arguments, Method Return Values, Method Signatures, Members and Properties.

And those are just *some* of the large bold sub headings in Chapter 1!

I repeat: THAT'S CHAPTER ONE ONLY. 43 pages of absolute gibberish if you are a beginner. Not to mention that the author is using ridiculously complex language. He tries to give the impression that he is properly explaining himself to new programmers, but he hasn't got a clue how to speak to beginners. For example, on page 9 he explains what the word "character" means (?). Everyone that has ever owned any device that has a keyboard knows what a "character" is! Yet on the same page, he uses the word "delimit" without a hint of an explanation. I know what delimit means; I've been coding websites for 7 years. But is he sure that a beginner knows?

While I did not yet officially read past the 1st chapter (I'm planning on reading ch.1 about 14 times before I move on!), I did flip through all 900 pages, trying to find something that I might actually be able to use in a Flash Application sometime soon. I didn't even come close to finding ANYTHING that wouldn't require hours and hours of study, practice, and debugging.

Here's another example of the book's off-the-wall structure: On page 579 he states that "ActionScript code cannot be included within an tag's HREF attribute". He's supposedly speaking to people with "no prior programming knowledge" and he waits almost 600 pages to tell us that? And yet chapter one discussed all the things I mentioned above?

An explanation for why the book does not speak well to beginners is implicitly provided in the preface -- the book was reviewed by a number of super-expert Flash architects and geniuses from within Adobe. We're talking about "Computer Scientists" and "Senior Engineers". How about getting someone with "no prior programming knowledge" to review it? I think that would have helped a lot.

And why on earth is the official Amazon title for this book "Essential ActionScript 3.0 ILLUSTRATED"? Illustrated? There are virtually NO ILLUSTRATIONS in this book! Virtually NO DIAGRAMS. Virtually NO SCREEN SHOTS of anything. It's just super-complex code.

I believe, as I said, that the mention *early on* that the book is good for beginners is nothing but a marketing ploy to pull in a few thousand extra books. I am writing this review in hopes of stopping beginners from wasting their money. If you want to learn some basic ActionScript that you can use *immediately*, buy "Sams Teach Yourself Flash MX ActionScript" by Gary Rozenweig. He speaks to beginners and experienced programmers superbly (as do all of Sams authors). Even though Gary's book is slightly out of date, it's a much better investment if you are a beginner. Move to Colin Moock's much later, if ever, or else practice your ActionScript now and wait for the 4th edition.

Having said all of the above, I will close with a very positive paragraph about Colin Moock and this book:

Every experienced Flash developer and/or programmer should own a copy of this book or a previous version by Moock. Moock knows his stuff and has excellent attention to detail (unstructured though it is). This book is a raw ActionScript tome that will gradually turn an experienced coder into a superb ActionScript application developer.

I just received my copy of Essential ActionScript 3.0 by Colin Moock, and I am extremely disappointed. Not because the book has no value and will not be able to one day assist me as a Web Developer; I am disappointed because the book itself, (and amazingly, at least one reviewer on Amazon), claims that this book is suitable for readers that have "no prior programming knowledge" (1st page of the preface). That is the biggest marketing deception I have ever read in a computer book.

These are the topics discussed in Chapter 1 alone (after a 14 page preface that will leave you gasping for breath!): Runtime Environments, Compilation, Just-in-time Compilation, Classes, Objects, Packages, Access Control Modifiers for Classes, Constructor Methods, Variables and Values, Constructor Parameters and Arguments, Expressions, Instance Methods, Method Parameters and Arguments, Method Return Values, Method Signatures, Members and Properties.

And those are just *some* of the large bold sub headings in Chapter 1!

I repeat: THAT'S CHAPTER ONE ONLY. 43 pages of absolute gibberish if you are a beginner. Not to mention that the author is using ridiculously complex language. He tries to give the impression that he is properly explaining himself to new programmers, but he hasn't got a clue how to speak to beginners. For example, on page 9 he explains what the word "character" means (?). Everyone that has ever owned any device that has a keyboard knows what a "character" is! Yet on the same page, he uses the word "delimit" without a hint of an explanation. I know what delimit means; I've been coding websites for 7 years. But is he sure that a beginner knows?

While I did not yet officially read past the 1st chapter (I'm planning on reading ch.1 about 14 times before I move on!), I did flip through all 900 pages, trying to find something that I might actually be able to use in a Flash Application sometime soon. I didn't even come close to finding ANYTHING that wouldn't require hours and hours of study, practice, and debugging.

Here's another example of the book's off-the-wall structure: On page 579 he states that "ActionScript code cannot be included within an tag's HREF attribute". He's supposedly speaking to people with "no prior programming knowledge" and he waits almost 600 pages to tell us that? And yet chapter one discussed all the things I mentioned above?

An explanation for why the book does not speak well to beginners is implicitly provided in the preface -- the book was reviewed by a number of super-expert Flash architects and geniuses from within Adobe. We're talking about "Computer Scientists" and "Senior Engineers". How about getting someone with "no prior programming knowledge" to review it? I think that would have helped a lot.

And why on earth is the official Amazon title for this book "Essential ActionScript 3.0 ILLUSTRATED"? Illustrated? There are virtually NO ILLUSTRATIONS in this book! Virtually NO DIAGRAMS. Virtually NO SCREEN SHOTS of anything. It's just super-complex code.

I believe, as I said, that the mention *early on* that the book is good for beginners is nothing but a marketing ploy to pull in a few thousand extra books. I am writing this review in hopes of stopping beginners from wasting their money. If you want to learn some basic ActionScript that you can use *immediately*, buy "Sams Teach Yourself Flash MX ActionScript" by Gary Rozenweig. He speaks to beginners and experienced programmers superbly (as do all of Sams authors). Even though Gary's book is slightly out of date, it's a much better investment if you are a beginner. Move to Colin Moock's much later, if ever, or else practice your ActionScript now and wait for the 4th edition.

Having said all of the above, I will close with a very positive paragraph about Colin Moock and this book:

Every experienced Flash developer