Being a programming-illiterate flash designer, I took my first steps into actionscripting with the help of this book. Just like its little brother Macromedia Flash MX: Training from the source (by Chrissy Rey), it is a book for the absolute beginner but it does one better than its younger sibling in the series, it doesn't leave you lost at the end, but maybe only a bit confused if you are like me, completely new to programming, but that can be fixed by trying to re-create similar projects as the ones found in the book (for example, in one of the chapters it teaches you how to make a remote control to change the channels on a virtual television. When I tried to re-make it from scratch by myself, I was a bit lost, even though I had just finished the whole book, but I skimmed back to the code, re-read it (only the code, not the explanation!), and I understood everything that was going on and managed to build the whole thing on my own because I could grasp the concepts behind the whole piece).

On a downside, when you're done with this book, it'll feel like you're standing on your two feet (yay!), but you can't move because you haven't managed to master how to walk just yet(d'oh!), and that's where other actionscripting books come in. Like its younger brother in the Training from the source series, this book leaves you with knowledge that just doesn't seem enough for you to be able to start a project in this field on your own. Sure, at the end of the book it tells you that you're ready and only your imagination is your limitation but what I really think it lacks are good ideas and suggestions in what ways different functions, objects, etc. can be used in practical terms. It would have been great if it had a bit comparing stuff like doing something like drawing a circle manually versus drawing a circle using actionscript, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

One thing I'd like to definitely point out is that this book is published by Macromedia Press. So one would think that this book would definitely be worthy of learning the way macromedia wants people to use Flash's Actionsript and all the hottest new features and advantages of Flash MX Actionscript over Flash 5 Actionscript right? Wrong! One of the hottest new things about Flash MX was that it became a truly Object-oriented programming language. But this book, in my opinion, completely failed to convey that message to the reader. It seems from what I've read everywhere else, that Flash MX's new trend is for people to store all their code on the timeline's frames rather than have it scattered around everywhere (on different movieClips, buttons, etc.) but the authors of this book still teach you to stick your code all over the place.

Also, from a comprehensive introductory point of view, this book runs short. From what I remember, this book doesn't tell you stuff like, for example, the difference between named functions and anonymous functions (if I'm not mistaken, it tells you it's the same!).

After finishing the whole book, and trust me, it was definitely a lot to swallow! I felt like I could read and understand actionscript code if I was given some (oh boy, it was a great feeling I tell you! I could look at other people's code and go "Ohhh, I get it now"), but I was unable to create much of my own for most tasks. This is subjective, I know, but it just felt like I didn't have a good, strong foundation in Actionscript when I finished this book, it just lacked something... oh yes, the difference between named functions and anonymous functions and a lot of other stuff. I would have at least hoped a book like this would introduce and explain, if not illustrate with examples, ALL the different things in actionscript, even briefly would be good enough.

If your actionscript/programming knowledge is zero, this book is sure to spice it up, but if you ask me, I'd rather pay a little bit extra and get a book with more practical examples and exercises on actionscripting, afterall, the difference between a F***ing good flash designer/developer and a Motherf***ing good flash designer/developer lies in his or her command in actionscript. So my suggestion is, if you're a newbie to programing or actionscripting and you'd rather take things slowly and you have the patience like me to read numerous beginner books for the language before you tread into the territory of intermediate and advanced actionscripting, then this book is a good first step, otherwise, slap yourself for thinking this is your key to becoming a flash actionscripting God (or Goddess!).