This book is a solid starting point for people interested in making dynamic flash sites with actionscript. It's written in a casual tone, so it's not too dry. However, I do recommend some knowledge of object oriented programming (javascript) because the logic of writing actionscript will be foreign to people who are beginners or have only worked with HTML. However, the lessons are presented in an easy to understand way, with concepts that can be applicable to your own work. There are occasional lapses, such as the author's failure to explain just how a layer mask works, even though it is a necessary step in several lessons (I had to go to macromedia's site for a quick tutorial). Overall, as a relative novice, I have found it helpful and it will be useful as a reference tool after I have completed the lessons.

This is an excellent actionscript book for designers (beginners) who don't like geeky terminology. It leads the reader slowly and the layout is very organized. After you read this book, you'll surely become a well-rounded actionscripter. Compared to other books like Peachpit Actionscript, this book is much better.

This is an excellent actionscript book for designers (beginners) who don't like geeky terminology. It leads the reader slowly and the layout is very organized. After you read this book, you'll surely become a well-rounded actionscripter. Compared to other books like Peachpit Actionscript, this book is much better.

This book is like many others written for those who don't already know Actionscipt--it starts out explaining concepts slowly and then takes giant leaps shortly afterwards. This wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't many wasted hours trying to get script to work only to find that I had stumbled upon yet another error not accounted for on the Friends of Ed errata page. I sent multiple e-mails, one which points out something I'm SURE is an error (and it took me a very long time trying to figure it out) and nothing was done. I had another problem with script I'd typed. I checked over and over to make sure I'd gotten the syntax correct, and I had. Then I cut and pasted the FOE coding that I'd downloaded, and guess what? It didn't work either! But when I looked at the rest of the .FLA I saw that the FOE people used different settings than they used in the book. Seems someone decided that some variables needed some tweaks but failed to put it either in the book or on the errata page. I even postponed reviewing this book so that I could give the FOE people a chance to rectify their goofs. But they didn't.

This book is chatty, but chatty doesn't equate to good instruction. If you want to learn Actionscript and know nothing about it or Javascript already, you're out of luck.

I believe that previous viewers might've written so positively because they didn't follow the book step-by-step as I did. If they had, they would've had problems, too. Either that or I have a different version of the book than they do.

Have you ever taken a class from someone who clearly knew the subject forward and backward, but couldn't communicate it to you on your level? This book is a lot like that.

This book is frustrating, at least for a beginner. The authors make the mistake of assuming that writing in a "conversational" style and throwing analogies at you thick and fast are sufficient to instruct a non-programmer or beginner. Instead, they confuse you by "over-explaining" some straightforward ideas, and other times by using needlessly complex examples and exercises that incorporate advanced concepts before the learner is ready; then saying, in effect, "don't worry about that other stuff yet, we were just trying to show you "x". Well, why not come up with an example that just showed us "x" without all that other stuff? Or just give a concise explanation of it?

In my opinion both as an often "naive" learner and as a professional in the field of instructional design, I think the gold standard in teach-yourself computer texts for beginners are the Lynda Weinmann H.O.T. books. Alas, they don't have one for ActionScript.