First Learning Flash for experienced programmers. November 13, 2007
> Can you suggest a good basic book that I should read to start learning Flash? I already know C, C++
First there are multiple parts all called "Flash". there is the Authoring Environment (Flash CS3), the Flash Source Files (*.FLA ) the compiled output (*.swf) actually run, and the virtual machine (The Flash Player).
Flash is an large ecosystem from mobile phones to web apps, to desktop applications, with whole books dedicated to those niches. As for basic books, I'd recommend going down to Barnes and Noble or Borders and checking out which book appeals to you most. Look for "Flash CS3" - the authoring environment.
One of the great things about flash is the strong community of development, the web is filled with tutorials and blogs and communities. Just about any question plus the "Flash" keyword you'll find answers and sample files for.
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/flash/articles/flash_resources.html
For more programming oriented topics I recommend these books:
Actionscript Cookbook, most common things e.g. 'how do I load an image?'
http://www.amazon.com/ActionScript-3-0-Cookbook-Application-Developers/dp/0596526954/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-4323525-9615269?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194986914&sr=8-1
Making things Move (how to use script to animate, create particle simulations)
http://www.amazon.com/Foundation-Actionscript-3-0-Animation-Making/dp/1590597915/ref=sr_1_5/002-4323525-9615269?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194986703&sr=8-5
Essential Actionscript -the nuts and bolts
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-ActionScript-3-0-Colin-Moock/dp/0596526946/ref=pd_sim_b_title_2/002-4323525-9615269
Actionscript 3 with Design Patterns
http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-ActionScript-3-Design-Patterns/dp/0321426568/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-4323525-9615269?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194986703&sr=8-1
Some of the major differences from traditional programming languages you'll need to understand: Flash has a built in 'stage' (container for that which you can see) and multiple timeline(s) for visual state/animation, which can be edited in the authoring environment. To be successful in Flash is often knowing when to use the timeline and when to use script.
Like multiple transparencies on an overhead projector, each timeline is composed of a layers that can move independently . Timelines can be nested, say an animation of a car, might have wheel rotating animation duplicated inside it, so when the car moves the wheels move with it.
Like addresses on a street, timeline have 'keyframes' that can be labels one can navigate to. Simple commands like stop(), play(), and gotoAndStop("LosAngeles") allow you to navigate and animate from place to place, and keyframes can have actions performed when the 'playhead' renders them.
The whole script and ui is essentially a single thread redrawing at 2-31 frames per second. Flash was designed to stream across the web, so parts can be playing while other parts are still loading. Flash can load, other swfs, mp3, jpg, png, gif, xml, plain txt, and flv video easily, even binary data in Flash 9. Instead of dll's there is built in resource managment, so say a bouncing ball component once loaded, but not currently visible can be duplicated 100 times on the stage after it's loaded.