Rating: 
Summary: I never got lost once yet I learned a lot
Review: I am a developer, but I am not a computer scientist, nor do I have the time or energy to go back and study computer science, and with the recent advancements in Flash, sometimes I wish I had studied computer science in college.If you fall into this category but want to move forward in becoming an RIA developer, I think Phillip's book is outstanding. I found it much more accessible than any of the other books on similar subjects, and I know it's a good book when I can honestly say despite learning a lot, I never felt lost once. Over the last 6 years I've managed to grow a respectable company whose primary product is a web-based delivery system I built using various open source technologies. Well clearly such legacy delivery systems are on their way out and RIAs are on the way in and this book is great to ease you into this new way of thinking. I have been using Flash since Flash 3 (usually a couple months a year to help redesign our company website) and if you don't already know, the changes from Flash MX to Flash MX 2004 can be overwhelming and intimidating so you had better arm yourself with some easily understandable materials that keep the geek speak to a minimum. Also, there are two very well done chapters (8 and 9) on Flash Communication Server which I had no clue about prior to reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent resource
Review: I am pretty efficient and fluent in Actionscript. This book highlighted some new utilities (mainly those in Flash MX 2004) for data use which are very pertinent. It also is an excellent resource for Flash Comm beginners. The 2 chapters on Flash Comm will provide excellent insight into the structure of an app as well as non-development tips and tricks. It's a must-buy if you are looking for an excellent resource covering new Flash MX 2004 goodies.
Rating:
Summary: Yes, this is THE book for programmers
Review: I can't say that I paid for this book. I actually won a copy at Macromedia Max 2003 - however I would not hesitate to buy it. If you are a programmer familiar with Flash MX 6.0 then this is the book to get you up to speed on programming Flash MX 2004. You need to know ActionScript already to take full advantage of this book. It seems some of the reviewers are expecting to have this book walk you through actionscript, the Flash IDE, etc. This is not the books purpose in my opinion. It is how to take advantage of the new tools available in Flash to created Rich Internet Applications. Being a person whom makes my living building RIAs I have been very impressed with the book. The section on DataSets, DataHolders, etc. was very good and informative. Learning that I can persist a DataSet to a Shared Object made my day! FlashCom coverage is well done, as is the Remoting section. There are a bunch of tips throughout the book that really make it Kerman's best book yet. If your expecting a Flash or ActionScript tutorial look elsewhere, perhaps the Teach Yourself Flash MX 2004 in 24 hours books would help. If your an experienced ActionScript coder and ready for the next wave (RIAs) then don't wait, grab this book.
Rating:
Summary: Tech support?
Review: I left a message on the authors online video/voice/text answering machine and got a response the same day. How many books have you read where the author makes that kind of effort?? Read it. Truth is the book good enough you may not even need to contact the author. He is probably sitting there like the Maytag guy...
Rating:
Summary: Perfect for the Right Reader
Review: I thought this book was great. Although, it may not be exactly what every person is looking for. I am a novice developer looking to broaden my horizons into the wonderful world of Flash development, specifically, RIAs. I have experience programming in other languages and have read a few books on flash development. For me, this book was almost perfect. It seems too often that reviewers and readers expect the author to cater to everyone's needs exactly. Either a book does not cover a particular area that you want or the book does cover the area, but without enough depth. I won't burden you with the obvious reasons underlying the fact that every book can't cover every topic in exhaustive detail. That being said, before you buy this book, understand that it is, for the most part an overview of the related Macromedia Technologies useful in RIA development. Notwithstanding its broad scope, it manages to get into alot of the "nitty gritty" that most developers are looking for (including code samples) when developing such applications. It gives you enough information and specific examples of how to get things done and at the same time allows you to see the "forest through the trees" - which was something I personally needed to put all of these technologies in perspective. I would not recommend this book for flash "experts" with a solid grasp on the related technologies and I would not recommend it for complete flash newbies (there is no coverage of basic flash concepts, e.g., tweening, drawing...). All in all, if you have some experience with flash and actionscript and are looking to take that knowledge to the next level. This book is a great first step - not necessarily your last.
Rating: 
Summary: who is this for??
Review: I'm not sure yet where this book lies in the spectrum of Flash books out there. This book seems to be targetted at the somewhat intermediate or experienced Flash user - which is where I am with Flash. But doesn't hit that mark. It doesn't tell you much about RIAs, actionscript, or Flash 2004, the things an experienced user wants to learn. It certainly doesn't cover anything to interest the intermediate to advanced Flash user, all of whom could probably circle the author in knowledge (or at least what this book leads you to believe). Yet it isn't for the beginner either, who would have no use for this book either. So I've really come to the conclusion this book isn't for most, which is where the rating comes from (that, and some mistakes/holes). Overall, I just see this book as a weak offering overall. I think it was just to rush a title on the market before the other books out there.
Rating:
Summary: This book brought it all together!
Review: If you are like me then you have seen several examples of Flash over the years but have had trouble putting all the ideas together. Most Flash books I have seen focus on either the designer or the hard core coder (which is great if you are an artist or want to make Flash games or advertisements ;). This is the first book that I have seen to take the web developer approach for designing real world applications. I have been designing web applications using ColdFusion to dynamically produce traditional HTML. I wanted to move to the next level but found the cocktail of CSS, DHTML and JavaScript often didn't produce the results that I needed. The traditional approach was complicated to produce and I still had to sacrifice user experience for browser compatibility. The promise of a Flash rich internet application was exciting but I had trouble pulling all the ideas together to actually make it work! Phillip's book provides the insight to make it happen from start to finish with helpful tips to avoid some of the gotchas that would otherwise cost hours of frustration. If you are looking for one book to get you producing rich internet apps tomorrow this is it! If you can afford two books (and want additional details on tying into the .NET / J2EE / ColdFusion worlds) then also pick up Flash MX Professional 2004 for Server Geeks (also published by New Riders). Good work Phillip & New Riders! Keep 'em coming!
Rating:
Summary: This book brought it all together!
Review: If you are like me then you have seen several examples of Flash over the years but have had trouble putting all the ideas together. Most Flash books I have seen focus on either the designer or the hard core coder (which is great if you are an artist or want to make Flash games or advertisements ;). This is the first book that I have seen to take the web developer approach for designing real world applications. I have been designing web applications using ColdFusion to dynamically produce traditional HTML. I wanted to move to the next level but found the cocktail of CSS, DHTML and JavaScript often didn't produce the results that I needed. The traditional approach was complicated to produce and I still had to sacrifice user experience for browser compatibility. The promise of a Flash rich internet application was exciting but I had trouble pulling all the ideas together to actually make it work! Phillip's book provides the insight to make it happen from start to finish with helpful tips to avoid some of the gotchas that would otherwise cost hours of frustration. If you are looking for one book to get you producing rich internet apps tomorrow this is it! If you can afford two books (and want additional details on tying into the .NET / J2EE / ColdFusion worlds) then also pick up Flash MX Professional 2004 for Server Geeks (also published by New Riders). Good work Phillip & New Riders! Keep 'em coming!
Rating:
Summary: Nothing here for developers
Review: If you are looking to learn RIAs and are coming from a non Flash background skip this book. There is absolutely nothing here about the huge differences between developing Flash apps and developing in more conventional application environemnts under say, Java, or C#. Even basic things like structuring code (on frames, or central, use of timeline) are glossed over completely. There is no mention of the new Flash MX Pro 2004 screen or forms. There isn't even a discussion of preloading issues and transition between user interfaces. Over all I only found one useful thing in the book, and that would have been found just by doing a better read of the macromedia documentation. Very disappointing. This book is a big reason I try not to buy online. Had I leafed through this at a store I would have not brought it home.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite up to par compared to the last book
Review: If you were impressed with Phillip's last book and thought that this book might be just as good, then think again. I agree with one of the other reviewers where it was written that "if I had gone to the book store and flipped through the book I wouldn't have bought it". I feel this way too. I usually buy online and can't flip through the book to see the quality or contents of it and feel quite ripped off on this one. There is next to nothing on FlashMX2004, if any it is just broad info. There are 2 chapters on Flash Communication Server, but if you have ANY experience with FCS then you don't need to read this. If you have no experience and are looking to get into FCS I would suggest a different book that has more info. Phillip has written in a very vague sense as to what an RIA is. This book doesn't go into any good details on RIA's, and there is no information in here that will help any that already have any information on how to build RIA's. Like another reviewer said that this book is more for the corporate side of a company, is partly true. Though, if I was a boss of a corporation this book would not convince me that RIA's are the way to go. If you need very broad information on RIA's, just want to scrach the surface of FCS and don't want to read the docs that come with it, want to read about only the very very surface of the new components and AS2 structure then this book is for you. Though I would suggest waiting for something more in depth which should come out soon enough. All in all, a disappointment from a once great author. I guess the desire to be first out over-ruled his good sense or something, because my jaw was on the floor when I finished this book (not in a good sense), which literally took only 2 days to finish reading and since it is useless as a reference book it'll just collect dust until I pass it off to a friend or throw it out.
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