Rating: 
Summary: A great start for those new to actionscript
Review: After a great deal of searching and online research I found a great article on a British website that mentioned two of the best flash actionscript books available today; Flash to The Core, and Actionscripting in Flash MX by Kermann.My recommendation is - get them both. If youre like me and have been using flash for lame animations without ever even glancing at the actionscript window then Flash to The Core is the place to start. The language is laid back and easy to follow, the examples are excellent, and the website has all the open source examples to tear apart if you get completely lost. My only complaint which kept this book from the coveted 5 star rating was the price to content ratio. The book is only about 3/4" thick and for the [$$$] I paid an inch or two of material would be nice. But beyond that this book opened my eyes to everything that Ive been missing out on and I am now on the road to being an actionscript junkie. Once you get through this book I suggest moving onto Actionscripting in Flash MX by Kermann. It is cheaper! and thicker! and goes into more technical detail while still giving the user projects and examples to follow. Once youve gotten through these you can move onto something like one of the actionscripting books from O'Reilly Publishing. But starting with one of those phone books of code will leave beginners totally confused so wait till you read the first two. I also recommend getting and reading The Elements of User Experience by Jesse James Garrett. This will teach you have to follow some simple rules to making sure that people can actually USE your site once you make it. Thats my 2 cents.
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Summary: archive it
Review: an interesting insight into a man the industry regards a genius. he knows his maths and has an interesting technique. the book's an easy read and useful for beginners/intermediates.
Rating: 
Summary: A Man Amongst Geeks
Review: Haven't bought the book yet. So you're probably wondering why in the heck I gave it 5 stars??. Well, if for no other reason, than the fact that the author (Joshua Davis) takes the time not only to read his book's reviews, but also to write his own review (see review by Joshua Davis). Very impressive. "Flash to the Core" seems to be the one book that is always recommended for me(someone who thinks ActionScripting is a necessary evil) to buy. I have also found Kerman's "ActionScripting in Flash Mx" to be a great resource. Oh yeah, sign me up for the new book by Joshua Davis with no text and images only with the cd rom in the back. :)
Rating: 
Summary: Impressive
Review: Haven't bought the book yet. So you're probably wondering why in the heck I gave it 5 stars??. Well, if for no other reason, than the fact that the author (Joshua Davis) takes the time not only to read his book's reviews, but also to write his own review (see review by Joshua Davis). Very impressive. "Flash to the Core" seems to be the one book that is always recommended for me(someone who thinks ActionScripting is a necessary evil) to buy. I have also found Kerman's "ActionScripting in Flash Mx" to be a great resource. Oh yeah, sign me up for the new book by Joshua Davis with no text and images only with the cd rom in the back. :)
Rating: 
Summary: feedback and comments
Review: howdy, I'm lurking on this page now and then to read customer reviews and feedback - it is obviously very valuable for me to listen to feedback in order to build better projects in the future. Target Audience is everything, and I truly wanted to write a beginner/intermediate ActionScript book for both artists and designers whom want to bring an added level of depth to their work. I did not want to write a book that skimmed over all the foundation ideas and concepts, merely to jump into my way more advanced experimental composition generating systems, which would take me the whole book to just work through a few of these engines. Instead I wanted to try to present as many foundation ideas as I could and also talk about some of the conceptual, and analogous ideas about how I structure work and inspiration. The tutorials in the book may not be any of my more innovative work but it does map out how these lessons built a foundation, style, and method to be able to execute more complex systems in the future. And believe me, it is much easier to read a book than it is to write one. I think in the future, my next book projects will include no text - just images - and a cdrom at the back of the book. :)
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Summary: Good book, very good on concepts
Review: I have been working with Flash for over 3 years, so I have a good grounding in the basics, including ActionScript. Today I finally decided to crack it open and do some of the tutorials. I finished Chapter 1 through Chapter 12, so that leaves me right at the beginning of the Intermediate and Advanced Projects section. On page 132 there is an error. In step 4 the author has you to name the "01 - crosshairs" instance on the main stage "crosshairs_mc". Just name it "crosshair_mc". Otherwise, it won't work. Steps 6 and 8 will have you write code to access "crosshair_mc". Just thought I'd mention this.
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Summary: A different (and much needed) view on Flash design
Review: I love any book that makes me rethink my methods and views on a particular subject and in this case, it's Flash. In this book you get a glimpse of how Flash wizard Joshua Davis approaches Flash design and also his views on Art on the Internet in general. This is the key to enjoying the book. If you want his thoughts on Art and Flash, then you'll enjoy it. If you're looking for an indepth instruction manual to create the next Praystation, look elsewhere. While this book doesn't contain any super-advanced code, it is important for anyone who wants to know some of the building blocks on how to start making sites like Praystation. The sections on the "perfect fade" and other actionscript widgets, really made me rethink how I approach coding such simple flash objects. He places emphasis on "elegant" code that is, to quote the book "simple and yet robust". Also equally important is how Davis prepares his workplace. He has a well thoughout system for organizing creative assests in Flash that I've tried to adopt. For me the best parts were reading on how he finds inspiration for his artwork, namely from Nature. It's made me realize to look for inspiration not just on the web, but everywhere -- outside my window, while walking to the post office. etc. While not perfect, I would have like to seen more case studies to get a deeper insight into he's methods. Not just necessarily his actual code, but just more of his approaches and problem solving methods. If you're looking for tons of code, look elsewhere, this is "sketchbook" about Davis and Flash, with some design theory, funny anecdotes and bit of code thrown in. If you are designer someone who wants to rethink a bit about how to make Flash art, check it out. Here's to hoping he writes a sequel. If you're a beginner, I'd recommend the Friends of Ed "Foundation Flash MX Actionscript" book in addition to this. Do the schoolbook learning through the Foundation book and then read the Davis' book before bedtime to ground yourself and to find inspiration.
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Summary: For All Of You Intimidated Flash Designers
Review: I spent quite a bit of time researching which books to buy when I decided to wanted to learn Actionscripting. For many graphic designers/web designers it is pretty intimidating to learn Actionscripting. If you know anything about Javascript, then you'll feel right at home. So I bought Joshua Davis' book alongside Phillip Kerman's "Actionscripting in Flash MX." Joshua's book is indespensable. It is very easy to read and I guarantee you will have that moment of clarity where things just start to make sense and the intimidation eases up. Kerman's book is also great because it is very technical and is a very complete resource. However, Davis' tutorials allow you to achieve results in the best and most efficient manner. Just imagine someone using the app for so many years and divulging all his little secrets. That's kind of what it's like. I highly recommend this book for the beginner Actionscripter, but I also recommend a more complete resource to really accomodate it.
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Summary: One of the best actionscript titles out there
Review: I was anxiously waiting for this book the moment I saw the companion site. Being a designer and not a developer, this book covers exactly the kind of actionscript tricks I need to make great looking flash sites. But more than that because Josh Davis pushes you to try more than just what he shows. You are given the power to take the basics and run with it. It's also a good book for all the kinds of advice you normally have to find out on your own. Things like how to structure movies, when to use actionscript or tweens. And lots more tips to create smooth animations and interactions. Thanks Josh, for writing such a great book.
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Summary: A really good book !!
Review: I would like to thanks Joshua Davis for learning me more things how to think ! This book is for everyone who want to learn how to be more creative in Flash.... The 5 stars going to the "thinking thing" and to the advanced actionscript....not so advanced but is good to know how to do thing with differents ways. I suggest to you to buy this book ! A big thank to Joshua again ...THANK YOU.... Dimitris (Graphic Design Student)
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