Anyone who wants to do anything really interesting with Adobe Flash or Flex will, sooner or later, have to do some coding. This is particularly true with 3D presentations, either natively within Flash, or with any of the 3D libraries such as Papervision3D. For maximum effect, not to mention ease of development, that coding will have to be done with Action Script 3 (or AS3 for short). This 566 page book is a good introduction to AS3, with a focus on the language’s basics, and how it is used within Adobe’s CS3/4 development and Flex Builder tool environments. To get the most from this book, readers should have reasonable proficiency with a compiled programming language, and an understanding of Object Oriented Programming design and implementation techniques.

An open standard programming language originally developed by Adobe for its Flash platform, AS3 is C-like and built from the ground up on a solid object model. While having basic functionality like more general purpose and object based programming languages, such as C#, Delphi and Java, AS3 has many specialized functions that are specific to the Flash platform that make programming easier and development faster.

Accordingly, the book’s Chapters 2 through 6 introduce and cover the basic language constructs and syntax. Those proficient with other compiled programming languages should review these as some commands are specific to the Flash environment.

Chapters 7 through 12 detail by example how the basic elements are fashioned into more complex and useful components and applications.

Finally, chapters 13 and 14 show how ActionScript projects are managed using Adobe’s Flex Builder.

Each chapter concludes with a summary of the material covered, and has working example code, in both Flash and Flex project formats, that can be downloaded from the publisher’s web site. The introductory chapters, one (for CS3/4) and 12 (for Flex Builder), have step by step instructions on how the respective development tool is configured, including screen shots.

Perhaps the most important chapter is four, which describes the Display List, the root container for all objects displayed on and managed within the Stage. Understanding the display list is crucial to developing effective presentations for rich internet applications, regardless of whether they are browser based on running locally on a desktop or laptop.

Perhaps the weakest chapter is eleven, on XML processing. This is particularly important as more and more information is being exchanged in this format and knowing how to extract and process it has become nothing less than a necessity in today’s information structures and services. Another weakness is not covering how AS3 programs can be tested and debugged in more detail beyond trace() statements.

An excellent book for those with novice to intermediate skill levels, as well as a light reference book. Published by Apress (Springer), also available on Amazon.