From the standpoint of someone who has little experience with internet applications of any sort outside of the obvious, I found ths book to be not only easy to read and navigate but a fantastic way to introduce myself to a useful program. The author wisely chooses a conversational tone throught the book which in my opinion creates an easier mode of learning and is one of the book's greatest strengths. I feel like I am being taught by a good friend rather than lectured by a mechanical disembodied voice.

To discredit this book for a lack of depth is irrelevant as it is clearly a beginners book designed to get your feet wet. And, furthermore, to give a 1 star rating because it is a "noob" book is simply moronic and misleading. That sort of childish downvoting should be saved for the next Nickleback release.

If you plan on using Flex 3, or are looking for a way to get your feet wet in the use of rich internet applications, get this book and enjoy it.

This book is written for someone that know next to nothing about programming. If that is your condition then by all means get this book otherwise I would avoid it.

This is a great book for anyone wanting to experiment with the basics of contemporary web design as supported by the Flex environment.

Those new to RIA and Web 2.0 development will find Mr. Cole's sample applications relevant, covering the tenets of the interactive web portal as well as their implementation into site construction.

More weathered coder-types will probably want to supplement Learning Flex 3 with a cookbook or a text expanding upon the logic language behind Flex: ActionScript.

I was disappointed with the lack of depth this book contained. I had read reviews prior to purchasing this book that claimed it was a great book to start with. But the problem is that there is no depth in the topics covered. This book requires a companion book that provides the detail that LF3 does not contain. LF3 is too soft even for beginners.

While I kept my eyes on Flex for quite a while, I never used it before I started reading "Learning Flex 3". I have solid programming background, but no previous experience with Flash and/or ActionScript. This book was exactly what I needed, aimed at beginners but not dummies. The topic's choice was well balanced, and the colors and nice typography made the whole reading experience even more pleasant. Of course, as soon as you get more familiar with Flex, you will outgrow this book pretty soon, but that's expected.

'Learning Flex 3: Getting up to Speed with Rich Internet Applications' is a great guide for anyone looking to learn or improve their Flex 3 skills. A collaborative book between O'Reilly and Adobe, this text is a perfect buy for anyone that wants to get their feet wet with this new and exciting technology or just needs a refresher in the basics of how to build Web 2.0 applications.

The Flex platform is perfect for building self-contained apps which are netcentric, modern and efficient. If you are looking to build a new web app you owe it to yourself to take a look at this technology and this is the perfect first step to take!

**** RECOMMENDED

Learning Flex 3 is an excellent resource for beginners who know nothing about Flex. Please read a detailed review of the book I posted online at RIA Revolution -- [...]

Well worth the price - for anyone learning Flex 3 and needing a good well rounded book that answers a lot of essential questions. A great find, easy to read, to the point, clearly written and the examples work exactly as you'd expect. A very satisfying read indeed.

The first thing that stood out is that it's in color! I love color, especially for technical material it adds a whole extra dimension to the medium and another vehicle by which to communicate. Obviously in code listings it makes the code easier to visually digest and mentally break down what you're seeing, and with screen caps color is so much more appealing.

The dimension of the book is wider that normal, which gives the book an extra wide gutter that the publisher is able to leverage. And leverage they do by making use of it for an assortment of side bars, notes, tips, and blurbs.

So aside from the aesthetics, content of course is the key. The book is aimed at beginners who don't necessarily have any sort of programming background - so the audience that this book would appeal to includes anyone interested in learning more about Flex and if it's the right fit for them; as a quick read (only 304 pages) you can blast through this book in a short amount of time.

Who might those people be? Developers wanting to test the waters with Flex because they had heard good things about it, Flash or Web media designers thinking about getting into the development side of things with Flex, and management level folks looking to explore new opportunities and want to get a barometer reading on what it would take to get into Flex, etc...

The writing style is fairly casual, and you feel like the author is talking to you (as opposed to the feeling of a manual). I think the author does a pretty good job at keeping things high level with enough meat to make the reader feel they're actually being productive as they work through the examples.

So I'd recommend this book to someone who wants to get their feet wet with Flex - someone who may not be fully committed to Flex at this point in time and doesn't want to invest a ton of time yet.

* Difficulty Level: Beginner
* Range of topics: Moderate
* Depth of topics: Light
* Development experience needed: None
* Reading Speed: Fast
* Writing Style: Casual

I was beginner to Flex and went through different books and adobe document (excellent & highly recommended for reference). Now after going through the book I feel it is perfect for someone who want to learn Flex (coming from Java or anyother OO language)

It is very well organize plus color text makes it very easy to read (color text is my favorite).

In my opinion must read for beginner who come from Java background (myself)

I have started to read several Flex books in the past. I say "started", because I quickly lost interest. Many times I found myself scratching my head saying "Why would anyone ever do that?"

This book has been an amazing adventure. The examples are relevant, the writing is entertaining without being off topic, and best of all, within the first 5 chapters I knew enough to make a basic Flex website.

If you have some web design experience with html, and css, then I highly recommend this book!

Alaric Cole succeeds in this book where many others fail. He manages to keep the pace of learning brisk, while providing adequate (and brief!) examples that clearly demonstrate his point without creating more questions. It's easy to read while still covering subject depth.

Learning Flex 3: Getting up to Speed with Rich Internet Applications (Adobe Developer Library) is a fabulous book for anyone who wants to learn how to use Flex 3 effectively. It not only covers the basics of Flex 3, it describes several skills that you will need to develop RIA's. The author Alaric Cole does a great job explaining how to use the tools in Flex. I often get a book that is meant to teach you how to use an application, and find myself scratching my head when I create a project from the book and it doesn't seem to work the way the author describes it (often a step is left out, or 'assumed'. Every tutorial/project I worked through in this book worked great, and I actually understood how to apply what I learned to my own projects. The subtitle of the book is 'Getting Up To Speed With Rich Internet Applications' and that is exactly what this book does for a Flex Designer or Developer. I have used Flex for about 1.5 years now, and feel that I have a pretty firm grasp on Flex and Flash, but I still learned quite a bit from this book.

I've worked with Flash and ActionScript for a few years, but I'm new to Flex so I purchased three Flex books and I found this one to be the best one. I like how the author has you build smaller applications that work by themselves but also adds more features to them as the book progresses.

There are some minor code issues, but he answered my questions on his website which is one of the best book websites I've seen [...]. All of the source files and the working applications can be viewed on his site.

I also really enjoy the layout of the new Learning series that O'Reilly has been putting out (similar to the Learning ActionScript 3 book). The color coding and pictures are a nice change from the majority of black and white technical books.

Since the focus of this book is Flex and MXML, newer programmers will need to supplement this book with an ActionScript book once they start to build more advanced applications.

Highly recommended for those who are new to Flex.

No books cover everything but looking at the title of the book it is aimed at teaching people new to Flex 3. (Or people who didn't get a good foundation in another book on the topic.)
I have seen few books over the years that rise to the level of this book. It is great in both scope and in simplicity. You will learn to both create and understand the heart of Flex 3 with this book and with no personal gain for saying this, stop reading reviews and buy this book today!

(FYI... I am the author of ColdFusion 8 Developer Tutorial )

Are you just getting started in using Flex? If you are, then this book is for you. Author Alaric Cole, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that is designed for anyone new to software development.

Cole, begins by jumping right into the basics of using Flex and Flex Builder. Next, the author helps you get acquainted with Design mode and shows you how to build an application visually. Then, he looks at code that was generated from Design mode and shows you how to write your own. The author continues by showing you how to get going with this powerful and simple programming language. Next, he discusses what events are and how too use them in your application. Then, the author will show you some of the powerful features of Flex. He continues by explaining how to lay out your applications. Next, the author will discuss the Form container and show you how to create rich experiences with Forms and user input. Then, he shows you how to use data that's created within your MXML code, or even data that's spread across the web. The author continues by showing you how to structure your application by providing a set of user-selectable views. Next, he discusses the concept of view states, which let you easily design the flow of your applications. Then, the author shows you how incredibly easy it is to apply visual effects to your components with simple MXML. He continues by showing you how to customize every visual aspect of your Flex applications, making your applications truly custom and unique. Finally, the authors shows you how to take your applications and show them to the world.

This most excellent book provides a step-by-step tutorial through all aspects of Flex development, from familiarizing your self with the right tools to learning basic features of ActionScript and MXML, to sharing your completed work with others. More importantly, the author chose topics based on what he felt empowered you to begin development without overwhelming you.