MX

This is an excellent book for any Miata MX-5 enthusiast, well written with plenty of pictures. Of particular interest is the extensive and detailed history of the MX-5 with wonderful photos of prototypes and early designs.

As this book was written in the UK, it has a decided UK (actually a worldwide) flavor. Although not a negative, if you're from the U.S., it causes a few double-takes when you first see pictures of right-hand drivers. You'll also quickly get used to the language differences: boot for trunk, tonneau cover for boot, hood for convertible top, and bonnet for hood.

Written in 2002, the last year model covered is the 2001. But since very little has changed since then, the book is not seriously lacking in covering the modern versions.

Buy this book if you're interested in Miata MX-5 history details: model changes, design, production, worldwide differences. Don't buy if you're interested in performance improvements, racing, repairs, or modifications.

Nice book. Easy to read when you're not English. Nice pictures. You have to buy the book when you own a MX-5/Miata or you want to buy one.

I'm a CS major whose desire to learn new tools is waning, so understand that I had apprehensions about picking up another tech book to sit on my shelf. Needless to say, after going through the entire book, I have found Foundation Flash MX to be...

A great, easy-to-read book, with step-by-step examples providing solid foundation for real projects using tool, sans ActionScript.

When reading through the book, I recommend skipping the ActionScript write up, in favor of going straight to Foundation ActionScript MX, which, incidentally, makes no assumtion that you've read Foundation Flash MX.

My only minor gripe is the lack of integration between the two closely related books.

Enjoy!

I'm the kind of learner that can't stand reading dictionaries, I get bored instantly without trying things out myself. However, the learn in '24 hours' type of tutorial book doesn't go into enough detail for me to completely understand the material. This book combines the two; Foundation Flash MX gives you an in-depth look at the basic concepts with the latest version of Flash while walking you through some great tutorials. And as an added bonus a lot of the reading makes you laugh at times.

After having completed this book I feel that I can create entire websites in Flash, in fact the book walks you through your own website from start to finish with it's incredibley helpful 'case study'.

The momentum never stops, I'm already into the Foundation Actionscript For Flash MX and can't wait to keep getting better!

This book is a VERY GOOD BOOK for those needing solid grounding in Macromedia Flash MX. It's so good that buying this one book replaces all the other books on the shelf to get solid grounding with how to use Flash. The language is easy to understand, without jargon that clogs your brain and tire you out before they get to the point.

If you're like me, you probably suffer from attention deficit disorder that is the trademark of the digital generation. Things come at you so fast, technologies popping up at you at speed of thought, and before you know it a new version of the software that promises miracles is out.

You will learn all you need to build a website in Flash MX and have a new career waiting for you, if you're any talented in aesthetic design, but there is a catch; If and only if you are patient enough to sit through the entire thing. It took me months to get to Chapter 11, and that's not even the end yet. The first 6 chapters went through easily, but then I always have stamina problems going through really thick, technical books. I probably have about 6 more chapters to go, and although it has taken me this long and will take a bit more of my time, I found some Flash MX books a waste of my money.

I have about 10 books on Flash MX in various forms, and this one is by far the best investment. Most books out there are robbing you in broad daylight, giving you a shaky foundation with so much jargon that it confuses you. Don't bother with the other beginner's books and buy this one instead. It will give you real skills, a real case study, and even some real-world Flash MX web development extras.

My first reaction to this book was to admire the intention behind it. However, the graphicial content of the book (viz, example projects and screenshots) oscillate between being too primitive on the one hand, ann too narrowly scoped on the other. If memory serves me there are probably no more than half-a-dozen flash screenshots throughout the body of the text. Really a bad oversight.

I don't quibble with the coding. The book is trying to shoehorn Actionscript into a paradigm for which it is still unprepared. I do think that many more useful examples could have been developed. The book could do with being rubbed up against some of the VB intro books (and Java) to help guide topic selection for the next edition - if there is one. In particular, I like to see algorithms described in psuedo-code, before being nailed down into actual code.

There are some useful points made about parent-child inheritance and child-child inheritance, many of which resonate with experienced VB programmers. One of the strengths of VB is its Multiple Document Interface support and the author could have stuck in something here to illuminate the contrast.

Even though Actionscript is an ECMA script compliant language, I can't think of any book that actually treats 'data structures' in actionscript - some of the games books do present good algorithmic work. In an OO book, I had expected this lacuna to be addressed, but I'll await another edition.

I learnt some useful things from this book, but I still can't quite accept it as an OO book. Certainly, I doubt if one could get a purchase on a breath of design in OO through this book, but perhaps I am mistaken here.

My most serious reseervation about the text is that it doesn't give the reader enough exposure to foster respect for any particular design paradigm. For instance, a UML subset could have been introduced as programme design methodology. And this in many ways is the nub of my problem with the book. If the text is about programming then it should reference and use programming design standards. If it is about Visual Programme assembly (putting the movie togeher) then bring in the relevant aesthetic approach. You pays your money and takes your chance, I suppose, in the long run.

Not formally trained as an OO programmer, it's something I've come in to over the years. Building applications in Flash MX (particularly if you are working with Flash Remoting or the Flash Communication Server) really requires an understanding of OO principles and practices. I've read a couple of books on the subject, and none have been as clear about building objects and classes in Flash as this one. It's clear, concise, and an easy read. It makes understanding how to make objects and classes in Flash MX a breeze.

That said, the book doesn't really build anything useful. The menu system that is implemented is solid, if uninspiring. Covering small, OO applications that did more than simulate gravity and display very simple XML files would have made this book great.

I always commend the efforts of strong programmers who write books tailored for those of us who are not.As designers we generally absorb and learn information in a totally different manner than programmers and this book addresses that fact well. Most programming books are incomplete because they leave out steps in thier explanations assuming that it's obvious to the reader at some point or another and Mr. Drols' book covers 98% of everything you need to know to understand the foundations of ActionScript and how it works. I am glad I bought it and recommend new users to read it and follow the tutorials thoroughly twice or more to get the most out of it. You will be able to write clean, reusable functions and code for your projects that you thought were impossible.

The "Training from the Source" book is a pretty solid coverage for a beginner. I was looking for a textbook to adopt for a beginning course at a community college and this one was chosen. Others will probably be better a few months from now (Like "Dreamweaver MX Hands-on Training" for example) but my class couldn't wait. If you can't either, this is a good way to get started. It isn't error free nor is it the most gentle introduction I've ever seen, but it does a credible job of covering a wide range of topics in a tutorial based style that works well for beginners or those that are moving from another product. I might question the ordering of topics a little -- for an absolute beginner, its coverage of tables in lesson 4 followed by behaviors in lesson 5 is a little earlier than I would have wanted -- frames and forms for example aren't introduced until lessons 10 and 11. But again, it is the best I've seen currently due to many publishers taking their sweet time to get things right (presumably).

FYI: at the beginning of each tutorial lesson there is an estimate of the time it will take you to complete it. Their estimates are very optimistic at best. If it says 1 hour, it is more likely 1 1/2 to 2 hours, and I'm not a beginner.

By the way, regarding the files on the CD which someone earlier mentioned -- it is just the typical Windows behavior and is easily resolved using Windows Explorer or My Computer or even Dreamweaver MX itself. The CD's files themselves are perfectly fine and not to worry.

If you are looking for a book to help you to learn the basics of Dreamweaver MX, then you have found it in this one. The chapters and lessons are well-designed to teach the concepts.

Back when I got this book, I was already very experienced with web design and tools, but not with Dreamweaver. This book teaches both Dreamweaver and a lot of basic web design concepts. So, I was able to skim over some sections that were too basic and still gain familiarity with DW.

The time estimates for each chapter were a bit too generous. I finished one chapter 45 minutes faster than they had estimated. Others were closer to being accurate. It makes sense that the time estimates would be off by some amount, depending upon the level of the reader.

Some of the chapters have an "on your own" bonus exercise at the end where one can apply the skills they just covered to building a web page with no step-by-step instructions. That is where you will find out if you were paying attention in the earlier parts of the chapter. Don't skip these bonus lessons!

I needed a way to get up to speed with DW and this book did the trick. Dreamweaver simplifies a lot of tasks that I had been performing manually, so learning it has made me more efficient in my work. This book, and Dreamweaver, are great investments for people who desire to craft attractive web sites in less time. The return on investment was almost immediate for me.

The book pays for itself quickly.

I was familiar with pre-MX versions of Dreamweaver, and this book allowed a great refresher course that cleaned a few cobwebs and taught many new features along the way. Teaching method very similar to hands-on projects/case studies in college; the best method to learn the myriad of the software's capabilities is to apply it! Included file disk makes it easy to skip ahead to lessons for more advanced users (i.e. each lesson comes with its up-to-this-respective-lesson's files, such that lesson 10 does not require you to successfully complete lessons 1-9; just copy lesson 10's files!)

For those users looking to start a static website (v. dynamic...do a simple websearch if you don't know the difference) this book is a GREAT starting point. Taking your site to the dynamic level will require - prepare yourself for this - the "DYNAMIC Applications" edition (book 2 of this series). I could not help but pick this book up as well.

For intermediate users, expect the "time approximation" for each section to be a conservative measure. I find that if it says it will take an hour, I usually get through it in 30-45 minutes, pending restroom breaks.

One word of advice: the entire project may seem overwhelming looking at its entirety. However, breaking it down lesson by lesson, you will find that the piecemeal approach avoids the intimidation factor associated with the overall project. It's quite impressive to finish the series and look back to from where you started!

Dreamweaver MX The Complete Reference is a bit overwhelming at first, but so is the Studio MX Suite. This book takes on the daunting task of explaining the ins and outs of DMX plus introduces the reader to Fireworks MX and Flash MX files. FMX and FLMX are part of the Studio MX Suite and I found it quite helpful to have an introduction as to how to integrate those files with DMX.

If you read UD4 The Complete Reference or are knowlegeable about the web, then definately skip Chapter 1. Beginning with Chapter 2 though, hang on to your hat! The chapters are arranged by task and by server technology. For example, Chapter 9 deals with DMX's Advanced Page Design Tools. It begins with templates and ends with the link checker. Developing ASP pages is covered in chapter 15 and PHP is covered in chapter 18. This arrangement makes it easy to find answers to your questions. Depending on your needs, you may not have to or want to read all of the chapters.

On the whole, I've found DMX TCR a very good resource to have nearby when I need a quick answer. The only problem I've found is that a few of the chapters are slow in getting "to the good stuff".

All I can say is "wow". I've been using Dreamweaver for a while now building html pages, but Dreamweaver MX is a little overwhelming. There are different server models and databases to choose from, and so much to learn. This book addresses all of those areas that I was unfamiliar with using a readable style that made me want to read it from cover to cover. It's more than just a reference -- it has a tutorial approach that covers all the topics yet is useful as a teaching guide as well. This book will never make it to my shelf. It will be on my desk where I can refer to it while I work.

With Dreamweaver MX: The Complete Reference by Ray West and Thomas Muck developers will learn how to customize powerful Web applications, learn the most effective ways to design, plan, and build a Web site and then use it to collect, distribute, and leverage information for customers and employees. Additionally, this comprehensive resource covers all of the new features of Dreamweaver MX in detail, including a discussion of the .NET Platform and ASP.NET integration.

... There's also lots of useless filler material about non-flash related programs and topics. The examples are geared towards drawing and animation rather than creating an actual web document.

I bought the "After Effects Bible" and loved it but this book is a roundabout, unfocused exercise in frustration. If you are very familiar with Flash already, maybe you can get something out of this. If you want to learn from the ground up, buy something else...

I knew some Flash already and wanted to expand this knowledge. I wanted a book that taught more advanced Flash MX techniques through conventional teaching methods but also with practical, real-life, step-by-step website examples.

This books fits that description quite well! The examples are simple, but do give the reader the vision of how to expand on this in his own creative way, which is very nice.

It also goes into the structure (planning) and philosophy behind a Flash MX website, which I found a suprising but nice addition.

If you only buy one Flash MX book -- this is definitely the one to get. There is nothing out there that offers as much information as this book does. At 1272 pages, whether you're at a beginning, intermediate or advanced level -- you will not walk away from this book without taking your skill to the next level and beyond. It is easy to understand, offers indepth, step-by-step, "how to", information on Flash MX development & design. So if you need to understand how to develop a project, are looking to integrate video/audio into flash, interested in animation, actionscripting, or communicating directly to server-side scripts -- you'll learn how to do it here.

Robert Reinhardt is a cutting edge developer & instructor in Flash community, I was fortunate enough to be able to take one of his classes and he is good. In addition to his expertise, he has included 30 guest experts -- each offering step-by-step instruction in their area of expertise. Easy to follow, backed by a live web-forum, includes secrets, cutting edge tips & tricks, as well as a CD chocked full of examples, add-ons, plug-ins, shareware, and templates. There is seriously nothing out there that will offer you this scope and level of information. You will not be disappointed!

I agree with the recommendations of some of the previous reviewers to consider Amazon reader recommendations carefully before you purchase this book.

If you are expecting a practical "how to" guide that will get you up and running with the MX Studio applications, a handy reference that will live along side your computer that's full of carefully detailed explanations, or a guide to efficient workflow by sharing tasks among the applications, then either "The Macromedia Studio MX Bible" or "Dummies" guide will give you so much more in terms of information and advice.

The focus of this book is more about working with a team of developers, each of which talks specifically about an application or two, rather than the nitty gritty of how to get a lot of tasks accomplished yourself. But when it comes to process analysis and integrating motion and static web design with database and content management, Hillman Curtis' "MTIV: Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer " is a much more thorough and in depth analysis of both the creative, development, problem solving aspects of interaction design.

For the same price or for less money, any of books I mentioned above will give you much more information in a more logical and practical format, than this book.

I migrated to the Macromedia MX platform from Cold Fusion Studio 4.5. So while the learning curve for Dreamweaver was fairly simple for me, I found the other Macromedia tools were a bit mysterious.

So it was a relief to find a single book that shows how all the tools work together (Fireworks, Flash, Dreamweaver, Freehand and Cold Fusion. Impressively, this book takes you through that integration process from the perceptive of a small web development team. It is refreshing to see both the UI and functionality angles covered with equal competence in a single book.

So rest assured this book is not an inventory of features, but rather a dissection of the process. Studio MX is simply a prop that the actors lean on.

Macromedia Studio MX. Building Web Sites with Macromedia Studio MX is more than a how to book. Tom Green, et al writes a comprehensive book which covers all the information you need for achieving the right results using Macromedia Studio MX. As well as defines processes for solid planning and content management practices though to client approval process. Processes necessary for any serious designer / developer.

I bought this book hoping that this book would shed some additional light on Dreamweaver MX templates. Mistake!!!! I found that the first 150 pages are very technical and would have been more useful if there were some excerises to augment the explanations. I have been using lots of Dreamweaver MX books lately and this is one of the poorest that I have come across. The authors are writing in a way that is hard to understand. I have also purchased Dreamweaver MX Magic and I found that much easeir to learn from mainly because the points that the authors are trying to make are made through supporting exercises. I was forced to rate this as one star but i feel that this book doesn't deserve any stars.

If you're like me, you upgraded to Dreamweaver MX with these awesome new template features, and then you couldn't get all the new features to work. You did what seemed logical, but still couldn't figure out certain aspects of the templates. Well, wander in the wilderness no more. Murray Summers and Brad Halstead have more than "come to your rescue."

There's more to this book than meets the eye. They not only cover the templates in detail (including editable, repeatable, nested and conditional regions), but also snippets and library items. I particularly enjoyed the explanations around the process of planning the site and creating the various templates and child pages. And then, once you've learned how to customize the syntax and expressions, they walk you through building an entire site... Good stuff!

Dreamweaver MX Templates is the first great "how to" book for utilizing the power of library items and templates. Of all the mysteries not well understood about DW features, Templates is certainly high on the list.

Mystery solved!

Brad and Murry have covered the territory well with a book that starts at the beginning (section 1) and builds (section 2) so that anyone reading the book can walk away confident in the uses of templates, new template features in DWMX and the awesome timesaver available in library items.

Instructional and easy to read material, complimented by easy to understand exercises reveal the power in templates, library items and snippets.

A great book for those new to the power in DWMX and a good reference guide for those who understand DWMX but just haven't gotten the hang of templates and library items.

Last year I bought Macromedia Coldfusion 5 appliction Development for Ben Forta. I did like the book and I learned a lot from it. So with my order of Coldfusion MX software, I decided to order Coldfsuion MX Application Develpment for Ben Forta. I start reading and soon I am in the end of the book do you know why? because it is almust same as the first one. Even same example. There is chapters where is same on both edition word by word. Yes, there is few things new on coldfuion MX but not worth it.

My advice, if you have a book wrote by Ben Forta for Coldfusion 5 then don't buy the new one because you are buying same book but different cover. If it's your first time, then this book will be the one to start.

by the way, this is not only the mistake I did, I did buy Coldfusion MX Web Application Construction Kit, and Coldfusion MX Developer Study Guide. They are all same. in fact I did read same paragraph again, and again from different edition of Ben Forta.

I will say Ben Forta did it again and I did buy and waste my Money this time.

I'm new to Cold Fusion...have only used ASP...and started creating a practice CF site using Macromedia's documentation which I found somewhat helpful but not entirely what I needed. Since this book wasn't immediately available, I purchased another CFMX book and was greatly disappointed...lots of theory and little practical application. Not so with Ben Forta's book. Within a half hour I was creating the Security Login page I was looking for and it worked perfectly the first time! This book is easy to read, understand and possibly the most useful book of its type I have ever used! I highly recommend it!

This book is exactly what I needed. After a couple of weeks of stumbling through ColdFusion applying only my background in other programming languages and the Macromedia-supplied reference books, this book has provided me with a real understanding of ColdFusion design principles necessary for effective programming. It's best read chapter-by-chapter, better as a guide to planning and making decisions about development than as a comprehensive reference. For example, the chapter on Development Methodologies provides an overview of Fusebox, but then discusses the pros and cons of this and alternative methodologies. The chapter on Data Validation describes client-side validation, server-side validation, and then explains that good design may entail a combination of both.

If you're a book learner, and prefer a self-paced book to an overpriced class, this is a great book, very readable. This in combination with the reference guides packaged with ColdFusion should get you where you need to go.

The bottom line on this book, for me, is it saved me many hours with its explanations on how data exchange, XML and components can be used. My other choice was to keep slogging thru the Macromedia documentation and (continue to) spend hours and hours guessing how things should fit together.

I certainly would like to see more examples and tutorials from any book about how to use screens and other features in Flash MX 2004 Pro. At the moment, this book is the best I have found to help me use Flash to develop data driven applications. I was pleased with the discussion of data exchange. While I have used data exchange in Flash, there were numerous tips which helped me. The discussion of data components, bindings and schemas was particularly enlightening to me. My applications work better from what I learned in this book. The books support website also had some useful code I was looking for on it.

This book has a clear focus, but it is not going to help everyone. I am experienced developing data driven web pages, but I do not have a deep Flash background. This book is helping me to develop my Flash applications.

This book was just what im looking for. After reading it, I am now able to create applications, and its really not that hard. Programming experience is required, so if you only know flash and not actionscrip this book is probably not for you. Good knowledge of how information is passed between applications/servers is also a +. GOOD BOOK. READ IT.

One thing upfront: you don't need to own Flash MX 2004 Professional to find this book useful. If you are still running Flash MX and are asking yourself if you will get some use out of this book then the answer is clearly YES!
Having said that a basic knowledge of Actionscript is recommended, this is not newbie material and it's not meant to be.

I am an experienced Flash Programmer and I have found several golden nuggets of information in this book. Those alone made it worth the purchase price for me.

Philipp's style of writing enjoyable and you can tell that he thoroughly enjoys the subject. The chapters on Flash Communication Server are brilliant and will have you drooling for more. I have been using Flashcom for a while yet I have gained a better understanding of the underlying technology and used several code snippets in my own apps already.
So if you are a Flash Designer and wannabe Flash Developer then buy this book today, you won't regret it ;-)

Thumbs up from me!