Beginner: Whats a good beginner as3 coding book?

Can anyone recommend a super basic beginner as3 coding book?

I've heard that Learning ActionScript 3, A Beginner's Guide is good but I've not read it. I have read Essential AS3 by Colin Moock, but that is not for beginners. I would suggest going to Amazon and searching ActionScript 3 and reading some of the reviews.

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    >
    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596526954/teijn11-20
    >
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    adobe people: not all user are designers that just make pretty pictures. if it is not intended for scripting then why is it there. and if there are corrections to be done, they should patch all versions, not only the last one. previous version users also paid for their versions.

    Well, there is no point in arguing.
    I personally believe AS3 does exactly what it promises to do within limits (read: reasonable limits) of ECMA type of language. And sometimes it doesn’t do what we expect it to for it cannot possibly emulate everyone’s thinking process. The task, I guess, is to learn to think in terms of AS3 – not to try to make AS3 think like us. No language covers all the grounds. And no, it is not Java - with no negative or positive connotation. It is what it is. Period. I just hope that AS5 will be more Java like.
    You are right about the fact that it is not necessary to know all the aspects of language in order to perform the majority of tasks. But it is paramount to have a clear idea about such fundamental concepts as display list model and events. For instance, depth swap has no meaning in terms of AS3 because display list object stacking is controlled automatically and there is no need for all these jumping through hoops one has to perform in order to control depth in AS2. There no more gaps in depths and one always know where to find things.
    Similarly, there is no point in having duplicateMovieClip method. More conventional OOP ways of object instantiation accomplishes just that and much more. Just because OOP object instantiation needs to be learned doesn’t mean past hacks have place in modern times. duplicateMovieClip is a horse carriage standing next to SUV. What one should choose to travel?
    Events are implemented to the tee in the context of ECMA specifications. I consider Events model as very solid, it works great (exactly as expected) and never failed me. True, it takes time to get used to it. But what doesn’t?
    By the way, speaking about events, contrary to believe in Adobe’s inconsideration to their following. Events are implemented with weakly reference set to false although it would be better to have it set to true. I think this is because there are smart and considerate people out there who knew how difficult it would be for programming novices to deal with lost listeners.
    I think AS3 is million times better than AS2. And one of the reasons it came out this way is that Adobe made a very brave and wise decision to break totally loose from AS2’s inherent crap. They have created a totally new and very solid language. If they had tried to make it backward compatible – it would be a huge screw up, similar to how our friends at Microsoft are prostituting VB and VBA – extremely irritating approach IMHO.
    Also, Flash legacy issues shouldn’t be overlooked. Flash did not start as a platform for programmers. Entire timeline concept in many ways is not compatible with the best OOP practices and advancements. I think for anyone who is used to writing classes the very fact of coding on timeline sounds awkward. It feels like a hack (and AS2 IS a pile of hacks) – the same things can be nicely packaged into classes and scale indefinitely. As such I wouldn’t expect Adobe to waste time on hacking timeline concept issues by making smarter editor. They have made a new one – FlexBuilder – instead. Serious programmers realize very soon that Flash IDE is not for developing industrial strength applications anyway. So, why bother with channeling great minds into polishing path to the dead end?
    I would like to state that all this is coming form a person who knew Flash when there was no AS at all. And I applaud every new generation of this wonderful tool.
    I believe Adobe does a great job making transition from timeline paradigm to total OOP venue as smooth as possible. And no, they don’t leave their devoted followers behind contrary to many claims. They are working on making developing Flash applications as easy as possible for people of all walks. Welcome Catalyst!
    Of course there is not enough information about AS3 capabilities and features. But, on the other hand, I don’t know any area of human kind activities that does.

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