Rating: 
Summary: A visual flop
Review: After reading the reviews on this site, I was extremely interested in this book so I checked it out in the local bookstore. The table of contents looks WONDERFUL, I thought it was exactly what I was looking for. But then I started looking through the chapters. Visually, it looked like someone's thesis. Most likely the content is great, but I really like to be able to skip around and find things as I flip through my computer books. Where's the organization? Where are the easy-to-find sections and topics? And maybe a screenshot or two now and then? There were very few visual cues to help make the connection between what I was reading and the application itself. I was SO disappointed that what looked like the perfect content appeared unreadable to me. If you like to read through straight text, go for it, and perhaps I will return to this one day and be very happy. But for the time being, this one does not grace my shelves.
Rating: 
Summary: jump start yourself into actionscripting in MX
Review: As a developer who first used Flash when it was Futuresplash and first learned to make multimedia with Director, the same as Phillips background, I found this book really easy to follow and found a wealth of information in it. This book is great for beginners and even advanced developers. The foundations explain the major components to help beginners build up there actionscript vocabulary and concepts. For advanced users the book covers the new things in MX like debugging, class, objects, and others that extend actionscripting. The tutorials are easy to follow and are useful techniques and components that a developer would use in real-life development.With MX being new to market it usually takes a while for developers and clients to embrace the new technology. So most of my development time is using the old technology. With little time to dig into MX and get up to speed myself I found this book a great way to jump start me into the new actionscripts and capabilities of MX. This is easily one of those essential books to have in your reference library right next to "Actionscript: the Definitive Guide". ;
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Resource!
Review: I am a newcommer to Flash ActionScripting, of all the books that are out there, this is by far the most easy to understand and comprehensive information on ActionScripting there is.
Phillip starts with the basics with examples and then takes you to the advance uses that ActionScript allows you to do.
His enthusiasm and writing style make this book interesting and easy to understand.
I highly recommend this book to the beginner!
Rating: 
Summary: Well written, witty, informative, terrific reference...
Review: I enjoyed this book- the style it was written allowed you to learn and grasp the basics of AS very simply, but also features a good, light sense of humor to keep you reading. Kerman fully explains everything in an easy to read manner, but covers nearly everything. This book is a great addition to any Flash developer's reference library!
Rating:
Summary: Technically correct, but dry and boring.
Review: I have a programming background and can tell that this book is technically correct; and it does serve as a good introduction to the structure and syntax of ActionScript. There are many pearls of wisdom for the beginning programmer and much can be learned. However, my complaint is that the first half of the book is very dry with almost no (complete) examples. Rather, there are code "snipits" that do not tell the whole story. The second half (workshop) does have good examples, but you had to survive the first half to get there. If you're looking for a tutorial with step-by-step analysis, this is not your book (see the alternatives recommended above). If you didn't fall to sleep during dry, boring lectures in school, then you could benefit from the text.
Rating:
Summary: I'm usually very critical of ActionScript books, but...
Review: I have a unique point of view when it comes to ActionScripting. I make my living doing advanced Flash scripting and I have written many courses, chapters and lessons for Flash 5 and MX. That being said, I would like to commend Phillip on another well written edition of his book. Since ActionScript has become a rather powerful scripting language, the books that discuss it must be thorough and robust. I felt like every aspect of ActionScript was at least touched on, if not thoroughly explained. I liked this book very much, but then I've been a fan of Phillip's writing for some time. I think everyone will be.
Rating:
Summary: Missing the one thing I needed to know!
Review: I really found his previous book for Flash 5 incredibly useful, so I got his book on Flash MX without hesitation. I was really disappointed that it didn't mention anything about MX's accessibility features... making text available for screen readers and so on. It's a small addition, yah, but even a small chapter touching on it would've helped me out on some of my projects, I'm sure. I dunno.. maybe it's not exactly 'Actionscript' per se, so he didn't mention it?
Apart from that, this is another invaluable book to have, and I'd strongly recommend it for anyone wanting to learn Actionscript but... there you have it.
Rating:
Summary: One of the better books for learning ActionScript
Review: I think this is one of the better books I have seen for learning ActionScript. There is enough detail and background on Flash to help programmers (with little to no Flash experience) as well as experienced Flash developers understand and write ActionScript. As with most books, the first couple of chapters are designed to get readers with various backgrounds to reach the same level of understanding as quickly as possible. Again, there is enough detail and background on Flash that individuals with little experience can get up to speed quickly. Additionally, there is enough basic programming information, that designers who want to learn how to program Flash can learn the jargon and be able to read code. In this discussion, the reader is introduced to arrays and objects in ActionScript in addition to learning how to create your own objects. Advanced developers will be pleased to find a section entitled "Interfacing with External Data". In this section, the reader learns how to access data via HTTP GET and how to work with XML. This section will be well read by programmers who need Flash to integrate with existing business data and infrastructure. The biggest surprise (and most welcome addition) to this book was the approximately 200 pages of "Workshop" material. In the book's workshop, the reader is presented with exercises to complete with step-by-step detail. I found the format to be similar to Microsoft's Step-By-Step books. The workshop section of this book is a great addition and pushed the book from the category of "good buy" to "must have".
Rating:
Summary: One of the better books for learning ActionScript
Review: I think this is one of the better books I have seen for learning ActionScript. There is enough detail and background on Flash to help programmers (with little to no Flash experience) as well as experienced Flash developers understand and write ActionScript. As with most books, the first couple of chapters are designed to get readers with various backgrounds to reach the same level of understanding as quickly as possible. Again, there is enough detail and background on Flash that individuals with little experience can get up to speed quickly. Additionally, there is enough basic programming information, that designers who want to learn how to program Flash can learn the jargon and be able to read code. In this discussion, the reader is introduced to arrays and objects in ActionScript in addition to learning how to create your own objects. Advanced developers will be pleased to find a section entitled "Interfacing with External Data". In this section, the reader learns how to access data via HTTP GET and how to work with XML. This section will be well read by programmers who need Flash to integrate with existing business data and infrastructure. The biggest surprise (and most welcome addition) to this book was the approximately 200 pages of "Workshop" material. In the book's workshop, the reader is presented with exercises to complete with step-by-step detail. I found the format to be similar to Microsoft's Step-By-Step books. The workshop section of this book is a great addition and pushed the book from the category of "good buy" to "must have".
Rating: 
Summary: So Phillip Kerman how about a refund.
Review: I want my money back. So Phillip Kerman how about a refund. The examples are not clear or incorrect. I'll say the same about the workshop in the back of this book. The instructional portion (written) is ambiguous or too lengthy or not clear. Should be more concise. We, that is, the students of a noted college in Illinois have to use this book in our Advance Web-Designing class and I can say this for the entire class "we have sought out and found other sources to learn from". I'm glad to say this book will not be used next semester. I'm thankful to be a friend of Ed!!!
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