MX

This book suffers from the basic mistakes that the early books on Flash had. Animation is only taught later in the book and some of the most exciting features are not covered. By the time the reader gets to anything interesting, he/she will have lost any interest or looked for a different book. This is the kind of book that challenges any novice to go beyond the first 30 pages. Some do, many don't. And the book still gets sold. It also helps to sell more Flash books, since the reader will often think the problem lies with himself/herself. Not too bad?

In some quarters of the web design community, Flash is still seen as a great animation tool, but its other nature as a fully-fledged web application environment is barely comprehended.

In other quarters, designers are still using Flash in the most basic way, as a straight-through animation tool, but simple scripting that might nicely spice up an animation remains a mystery, and even tweens are a worry.

For too long in Flash's early days there were too few, in fact almost no, books about it. Then the long drought became a flood, and there are hundreds now. I am not complaining - the era when those who had puzzled out some obscure mystery were keen to show it off but refused to explain it was a frustrating one.

But now, when a designer wanders into a big city bookshop and claps eyes on all those big thick books on Flash, whose titles link Flash with daunting words like Applications and ActionScript, eyes are apt to glaze over to mutterings of "later, later, one day...."

What has been badly needed is an easy introduction to the latest version of Flash, written with clarity and respect, amply illustrated, structured so readers can easily dip in and out to grab some pearl of wisdom that can be applied to the job in hand, and that invites repeated perusal. What we needed has now arrived, and Macromedia Flash MX Express is it.

Designers are visual people, and they need their books well illustrated with screenshots and examples. Flash MX Express includes so many that it has a 2-column layout - one for text and one for images. Illustrations are annotated and captioned where necessary, and there is a reasonable balance between screenshots made on Mac and Windows computers.

An error common in those big thick Flash books is the authors making too many guesses about their readers, skipping over crucial steps on the assumption that "it's obvious, isn't it?" Cych, Mace and Rhodes do not do that there, covering every step of the way through each exercise. You really can jump in and out, grabbing only what you need that day. The authors then gently introduce that designers' bogeyman, ActionScript, two-thirds the way through, and follow it with introductions into components and video, both new with Flash MX.

Macromedia Flash MX Express is one of the best introductions into Flash MX for those new to Flash or who know they have been underusing its immense capabilities and want to dig deeper now. I hope that Friends of ED uses the same editorial team to write further-Express style Flash books in future.

This book can teach authors and publishers as much about producing quality learning references as it can teach you about FLASH MX. Great for the beginner. This book doesn't waste your time with hand holding excersises that take forever to complete. At 333pages you'll be up to speed in no time. Each page is 2 columns one column text the other pictures. So it could be said that this book is actually 116 pages as apposed to the other 400 - 700 page volumes available on FLASH. Get it and Get it today. This book is the only book I would recomend for beginners along with a couple of hours on [the website].

When I first flipped through the contents of this book, my first impression was, "Cool, it covers everything!" However, my second impression, after looking though it, was that it covers it all so shallowly, that it's not worth the time to read it. But then, my THIRD impression was that that's probably what the authors had in mind - give a broad overview of the topic(s), then let you purchase other books or training to go in depth on the areas you need.

And it does just that - gives a great background into all (or at least most) of the technologies needed to get going in this field, using Dreamweaver as the tool. But if you're looking for a detailed step-by-step tutorial into database-driven webpage development, then this probably isn't the book for you. Try Dreamweaver MX Dynamic Applications, by Jeffrey Bardzell if that's what you want.

This book is broken down into four sections:

1) Data-driven Web Pages -- an intro to the topic, to Dreamweaver MX, HTML forms, and a great section on good coding practices. Coming from a design background, I especially liked that coding section.

2) The Databases -- a description and comparison of the major databases in use, including Oracle, MySQL and those ones by Microsoft that I don't know why anyone would use.

3) The Languages -- an intro on connections and scripting and *very* brief tutorials on the major scripting languages in use, including ColdFusion, JSP, PHP and some dribble about Microsoft. As for this section, you will definately need to get additional training/books/tutorials about your language of choice. This is a 700+ page book, with small fonts, but it doesn't cover these languages very well, nor should it. Those should be left to their own books.

4) Using and Manipulating the Data -- this is where the book finally starts giving some step-by-step info on accessing data, building forms, master-detail page sets, search pages, etc. Again, these sections are brief, but usable. However, having just gone through Bardzell's book (mentioned above), I chose to skip these. Plus, the one section I did look at, the master-detail page set section, had several typos and errors in it. Code errors are completely unacceptable in a tech book, in my opinion. Don't you have editors for that?

Anyway, if you want a good overview of the subject matter, this book really covers an awful lot of area. But it does so at the expense of real depth. However, I think that was the whole intent of the book. This is a real good book for someone just starting in the field, that's not sure what everything is. After going through this book, you could then branch off, in depth, into the area of your choice. (And that area should probably be JSP or PHP/MySQL, since we all know Microsoft is going out of business soon, and open source is king!)

MASTERING DREAMWEAVER MX DATABASES
AUTHOR: Susan Sales Harkins, Bryan Chamberlain, Darren McGee
PUBLISHER: Sybex
REVIEWED BY: Barbara Rhoades

BOOK REVIEW: The first thing I look for when purchasing a software instructional book is whether or not it has a CD. Then, whether or not the CD has trial versions of the software the book is written about. In the case of MASTERING DREAMWEAVER MS DATABASES, both are true. The CD contains ColdFusion MX, Dreamweaver MX, Fireworks MX, Flash MX JRun4 as well as the files to work through the material given in the chapters.

The next thing I check out is the Contents and Index. Is it written in a manner that allows a reader to locate a specific topic with ease? The Contents of Mastering Dreamweaver MX Databases has two Contents sections. The first is "At a Glance" and the second is the more detailed version. The Index has 35 pages of information. Both the Contents and Index are written in enough detail to allow the reader to find what they are looking for.

Each chapter ends with a summary of what the reader should have learned in that chapter. The chapters themselves have very few graphics and lots of technical reading. Before buying this book, the reader should be fairly well versed on HTML and Javascript. If things like ColdFusion, JavaSever Pages, PHP and Oracle mean something to you, then this book is at your level of understanding.

MASTERING DREAMWEAVER MC DATABASES is a good technical manual for intermediate to upper level of knowledge about web design. Along with having a very good CD, this book will boost your knowledge on how to handle the upper end of web design.

I am an experienced web developer but was looking for a way to start using databases on my sites. The book is a good introduction to using many different databases and development languages with Dreamweaver MX.

Although the book is not an in-depth volume on any single method of coding or language, it has a great introduction to a variety of databases and languages that you can use on your web sites.

I have found the book very useful when developing both ASP and PHP sites. The book also has many little gems of information. It is certainly a great starting place and will also point you towards more detailed information if you need that. I have been able to use this book to successfully develop multiple sites using Dreamweave MX and databases.

this is a great book for starting out in flash mx and shows you all the basics plus the advanced. it comes witha cd which has, of course, a trial of flash mx and many other programs. this is a good buy even if it is expensive

This book packs a wealth of easily digestable information into a small and inexpensive package. I dove headfirst into web design a few months ago with Macromedia Studio MX, and having never seen Flash from the developer's side before, found it quite easy to learn with the help of this book. I know that there's a lot more to Flash than is covered here, but if you need step-by-step instructions and practical examples illustrated in full color to help get you started, this is the book for you.

I found the book follows a good logical progression for learning the basics of Dreamweaver MX and Web design in general. However, there are many screen shots through the book for following the examples of which you literally meed a microscope - I have good eyesight and could not make out most of the microscopic text. This is a BIG disappointment, otherwise a great book.

This is a pretty decent book in an easy-to follow format which does a great job of providing information for it's stated purpose (Flash MX game programming).

As an experienced programmer who just started toying with Flash, I would say this book certainly opened my eyes to the capabilities of Flash and Actionscript. After reading Chapter 6, it took about an hour to modify the "Space Invaders" type game into a "Math Blaster" game to help my son learn his multiplication tables.

It also does an admirable job of being useful for beginners and experienced programmers. For those already familiar with Javascript, there will be a lot of repeated material but the book's format makes this easy to skim through.

Now for the problems. First off, the index is one of the worst I've ever seen. I typically scan through an entire book to see what kind of information is available then use the index when I need to look up the specifics. This book might as well not have one. I finally started writing my own additions in the margins of the index pages.

The second problem probably isn't fair to mention but, because of the useless index, you will definitely still need a good Actionscript reference (is there one out there?). Again, to be fair, the book never claims to be a reference.

If you plan to program Flash games or just want to learn what Flash is capable of doing, read this book. If you're looking for a reference guide, move on (and please let me know when you find one).

The Item has proven to be a very informative tutorial. It's user-friendly for the beginner, but at the same challenges and educates the intermediate user. I encourage anyone who wants to become a Flash creator to own this product. After seeing the other competitive programs, this product is one the best, not to mention, cost-effective tutorials I have found. If this product is like others offered by Keyko, I look forward to owning more of them.
Mark

Haynes has whipped up another repair manual in its never ending quest to squeeze out Chilton's. It's doubtful that will ever happen. Although Haynes puts out a functional manual that covers general automotive repairs extensively, it seems to lack information on more abstract problems. Haynes always starts out with a troubleshooting guide, but you'll find the same problems diagnosed no matter which manual you buy. Maybe it's just me, but my automotive problems always lie outside the spectrum of Haynes' thinking. It's almost it's as if the manual were designed for someone who has never worked on a vehicle before. Are those the people who are buying this book? I'm thinking not, but what do I know? Haynes does provide easy to follow steps for most procedures involved, if you have the proper tools. Although many photos are provided to exemplify a particular removal/replacement procedure, I've sometimes felt that a diagram works better for such purposes. There are numerous wiring diagrams available, but it would be nice to see some color there to differentiate the wiring. My suggestion, spend the extra money on the official Mazda shop manual (or Ford Probe as it were). The extra money spent is well worth it.

This book is riddled with errors, from nonsense layouts to coding mistakes. The interface (a hotel booking system) is very rudimentary and does not work as advertised.

The book does introduce readers to Dreamweaver's server behavior interface and does a good job walking readers through a local install of Apache, MySQL, PHP, and a few other tools.

A good idea, poorly executed.

If you have even rudimentary knowledge of Dreamweaver and MySQL, you can skip right to chapter 6. The first 6 chapters laboriously discuss Dreamweaver, PHP and MySQL, without giving any practical usage...instead the book repeats the same concepts over and over and over.

So, I was happy when I finally got to the part of actually using Dreamweaver to create a PHP application in Chapter 6. But I was disappointed to find that a lot of the steps simply tell you what to click on and what to enter, without giving you an explanation of what's going on behind the scenes and what it is you're actually doing. For instance, when you're developing the example application of a hotel booking system, when you create a Recordset the book sometimes says things like "Setup the Filter so it reads ID=Form Variable bookingID. This creates a record where the ID field matches the bookingID sent from a previous page." Well, OK. But there is absolutely no mention of what the other options are in the Recordset Filter dropdown menu, or what they do, or why the Form Variable works the way it does, or exactly how it pulls the information from the prvious page. Please tell me WHY this does what it does?

It surprises me that they could be so meticulous in explaining every little miniscule detail of everyday Dreamweaver functions, yet casually throw around the idea of using Dreamweaver to create PHP as if we already know how to do that, but are trying to learn the very basics of Dreamweaver instead.

I guess what I'm getting at is this: you could simply fly through the tutorial and build the example in no time, but when you're done you won't have a clue as to why half the things the book told you to do function the way they do, let alone take the knowledge to build YOUR OWN application. So, I'm taking the lessons VERY slow to try to soak it all in.

Oh, and one other annoyance. This book seems to be written by authors who use English as second language...the obscene overuse of the word "whilst" (sometimes 6 times per page) will have you pulling your hair out by Chapter 2. Who uses the word WHILST in real life????

I'm still laboring through the book...perhaps I'll write a follow-up when I finish. It's not terrible, but it could be better.

Bottom line: an even so-so, not a thumbs-up or thumbs-down.

This is literally the book you are looking for if you have a basic handle on how the three pieces of this puzzle look & feel but want to see the completed puzzle itself. The authors take you through the conception, design, & creation of a PHP/MySQL web application using Dreamweaver MX. They cover installation of MySQL & PHP on IIS boxes & Apache - watch that you're using the right version of PHP & the PHP MySQL admin tool they recommend! - and take you by the hand through the whole project. Great stuff and they could easily write another book covering this subject.

If you are new to Flash, and multimedia authoring in general, this book is an adequate, easy to understand introduction to Flash MX.

However, if you have any experience in multimedia authoring, using previous versions of Flash, web programing, etc., you will be very disappointed, so don't buy this book. The title 'The Complete Reference' is a total misnomer. This book is neither a reference ( it's a feature by feature tutorial/description ) nor is it complete ( it glides over ActiveScript, and practically skips video altogether).

The author has won awards for writing beginner oriented computer how to books, and this shows in his easy to understand prose. Unfortunately, one gets the impression that the author is neither a designer nor a programmer. The use of incorrect technical terminology in some places is disconcerting at the best, and totally misleading at the worst. There is even an aside where the author inadvertently, perhaps through ignorance, takes the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) to task on the features of the core standard upon which Active Script is based. One imagines the author might be better off sticking to books on word processing and spreadsheets in the future, which has been his forte in the past.

The first thing I liked about this book were the notes and tips in each chapter. Someone could just read the notes and tips and get some pretty good applicable tips on Flash MX. The book begins with the beginner in mind. I found the chapters on sound and video extremely helpful. I too have not read the Actionscript part yet, but know it will help me understand object programming using Actionscript 2.0 better than I do currently! Thanks for a great book!

I am a professional web designer, and I have been using Flash since version 4. In version 5, the program made some great strides, but MX is the bomb. I bought this book because I always need a comprehensive reference for the desk, and I am happy to say that this book fits the bill. It could be bigger, but sometimes, books can be too big, which is also a problem. The author is very thoughtful and organized, and his explanations are crystal.

If I had to make some recommendations, I'd say that the next version should have more high-end information. There needs to be more information on dynamic application design and components. I am a big fan of the bonus chapter on Toon Boom Studio, but the Canvas 8 coverage can go. No serious web designers use Canvas.

Why 5-stars? Well, the author gets an A for effort, a B for thorough coverage, an A for clear explanations, and an A for knowing his stuff.