Rating: 
Summary: This book delivers on stated purpose
Review: This book does a good job of explaining what's possible with RIA's and how to begin developing them. As the first reviewer says, it does not explain code structure, etc, however; it didn't claim to. Phillip states that the book is intended for "any Flash developer comfortable with Flash who wants to develop more advance programming skills". I believe his book achieves this purpose.I am coming from a Microsoft programming background and have so far (I'm in Chapter 7) found the code listings and explanations to of high quality.
Rating: 
Summary: Building Rich Internet Applications
Review: This book is a must for every flash mx2004 developer since it covered every aspect of the latest and greatest of flash mx 2004. The author also let you download source code of the book from his website to save you from typing. It also show you how to program the new Flash Comm Server. There is also a chapter on exchanging data with outside services so that you can build more sophisticated database driven dynamic applications. But best of all, if you don't understand any subject or need further assistance, the author returned my email right away to help me. So it is worth more than the book itself to be able to reach the flash guru advice when you needed.
Rating:
Summary: Yet another excellent book on Actionscript from Kerman :-) !
Review: This book was full of flash/actionscript information that was very useful to myself. The book will work out well and teach good lessons to beginners. However, as an experienced actionscript programmer, I find that the book is even more useful for advanced users and more than anything, it gave me many creative ideas. Kerman manages to cover a wide-variety of topics extending beyond just regular actionscript. The diverse nature of all the material covered does not confuse though, Kerman ties it all together in a structured and orderly way. I would recommend this book highly to anyone building flash-based RIAs and I would especially recommend it to any experienced actionscript programmer.
Rating:
Summary: i can do lots of stuff that i could..
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: worthless
Review: This book was very disappointing. The author goes through endless verbose and meandering discussions of software engineering, but doesn't have a clue how to write decent code. The examples are pitiful--poorly designed, hard to follow, and sloppy.
Rating:
Summary: A great jumping off point for 2004, Remoting, and FlashComm
Review: This great little book packs a huge range of material into a readably short space! At only around 400 pages, it is packed with meaty examples ranging from the basics of RIA building to advanced FlashComm Server tricks and techniques. Although it does not try to go too in-depth on using the data components in MX '04 (it does touch on them enough that you will get a good foothold) - the book provides a grounded, realistic overview of the process of building RIA's, from concepts to remoting and Comm Server, down to a thorough section covering production techniques and quality assurance/debugging. Here are some of the many topics covered:
- A good backgrounder on RIA's in Section I
- Section II covers data exchange, formatting, and presentation, data management components, remoting, local shared object & connection object, using Comm Server (chapters on fundamentals and advanced)
- Section III goes over production techniques, staging & deployment, QA & debug, exploiting new features of MX2004, component examples and a section on building a code library. This approach is really refreshing - Kerman does not bury his head in the sand with a blindered look at code as some authors do, but instead offers a complete picture of what it really takes to create RIA's (complicated beasts requiring much more than just using components). So don't get this book thinking it is a study of AS2, but rather a primer on the complex process of RIA production from top to bottom - with many tips and tricks along the way.
Rating:
Summary: An easy-to-use and well-written book
Review: This is easily the most useful book I have purchased on developing applications with Flash (I have been using Flash since version 2.0 and have been writing games and apps with it for 5 years). The book covers the subject of RIA's in structured chapters that help developers of all skill levels understand the tools that Flash MX 2004 provides. I keep this book within arms reach of my workstation because it also serves as a great reference tool.
In my opinion, the highlights of this book include the best chapters I've read on Flash Communication Server (FCS). FCS is one the most exciting and important new technologies to come from Macromedia and this book will have you building amazing connected applications quickly and easily. (I personally learned to develop for FCS in a matter of hours using step-by-step examples in this book). If you want to learn FCS, get this book first.
Other topics I found very helpful are Kerman's discussions of Local Shared Objects, Flash Remoting, Components and XML. In addition to the specifics of these and other technologies, the author presents excellent information regarding general application development techniques and practices.
All in all, this book covers the subject of RIA's in a thorough manner. Most aspects of application dev are discussed and there are lots of great detailed code examples throughout. Bottom line, I own books twice as thick that don't explain the material nearly as well as this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Good theoretical book, to few practical examples.
Review: This is one of the first FMX 04 books that was out, so I ordered it to get updated asap;
I enjoyed reading the book, but it wasn't what I was looking for.
It talks at length about how and why to build RIAs, but the practical examples (AS2 code) were not enough, it's too much theory.
I much prefered his "ActionScripting in Flash" book, and even that one was very theoretical.
For AS2 and all the new stuff, I'd recommend the Macromedia Press Books.
But then the book's title is MX 04 for RIAs, the problem is, you can't scan through the book on the web before buying, and returning an item from France is not really usefull..
Rating:
Summary: the death of "static webpages"...
Review: This is the 3rd book by Phillip Kerman to find it's way to my collection. Once again, I found the book profusely informative, but without the normal "dryness" that one finds in computer manuals. Kerman's examples and scenarios are easy to follow and relate to your own coding challenges. I was just starting development of my first major RIA when I acquired this book, and I'm not sure I would have made out alive without it's help. I found the book extremely helpful in migrating me from my old method of parcing XML and interacting with databases, to the new techniques and methods available in MX2004. It also gave a nice overview of FlashCom, Components and some other technologies that at the time I had not yet touched, but now find myself using more and more. For someone's who looking to go from beginner to skilled professional, this book should certainly be by their side (and ear-marked relentlessly)
Rating:
Summary: the death of "static webpages"...
Review: This is the 3rd book by Phillip Kerman to find it's way to my collection. Once again, I found the book profusely informative, but without the normal "dryness" that one finds in computer manuals. Kerman's examples and scenarios are easy to follow and relate to your own coding challenges. I was just starting development of my first major RIA when I acquired this book, and I'm not sure I would have made out alive without it's help. I found the book extremely helpful in migrating me from my old method of parcing XML and interacting with databases, to the new techniques and methods available in MX2004. It also gave a nice overview of FlashCom, Components and some other technologies that at the time I had not yet touched, but now find myself using more and more. For someone's who looking to go from beginner to skilled professional, this book should certainly be by their side (and ear-marked relentlessly)
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