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Rating: 
Summary: Good Book for Intermediate and Advanced Flash MX Developers
Review: I bought the first edition of this book, Macromedia Flash 5 Developer's Guide, and I found some valuable information. However, given its coverage, it was overpriced. This time, I waited until the book had been released, and before purchasing it, I took a look at it in the bookstore. In short, this edition is a vast improvement. The book is comprehensive and well written. The author delves into topics that receive little or no attention in other books. Everything has been strained and massaged for developers, eliminating remedial or unnecessary coverage. Better yet, the author really drills down into ActionScript, giving you a good handle on advanced topics like XML, Scripting with Objects, and web data. I also appreciated his coverage of QuickTime and Flash Native Video. If you know Flash and you arte looking for a good intermediate to advanced book, I would highly recommend this.
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Summary: I disagree with the other reviews. This book is worth your $
Review: I don't generally write reviews on Amazon, but I just happened to take a look at the reviews for this book and found them unjust and wanted to share my views. My reason for purchasing this book was the extremely well documented chapter dealing with XML and Flash. I recently took the Flash Developers Exam and did not do so hot on the XML section of the test. After reading the first 5 pages in this chapter I found all the question I got wrong on the exam. Their coding styles teach you how to use the a lot of the new Flash MX features which is a huge help if you are just now coming over from Flash 5 (or earlier). I found that a good portion of the book covered topics that was covered on the test and really made me surprised as to how much I really didn't know about Flash. This is a book every Flash DEVELOPER should have on their shelves...
Rating: 
Summary: Some good, Some bad, Overall so-so
Review: I found many of the example files missing from the download (which in my opinion is pretty weak - where's the cd with the examples???) that was a major disadvantage. The sections that talked about application development were pretty good, but most of the booked seemed irrelevant. I think the title Developer's Guide is a little misleading. I thought Developer referred to application developer, but I guess it is referring to any Flash development. The book does cover a lot of different topics from 3D to Generator (which does not even apply to MX????). So if you are looking for a book covering a little on a lot this may be it.
Rating:
Summary: Depends on the person
Review: I got this book because i taught myself actionscripting at a decent level, and wanted to improve my knowledge. Unfortunatly this author is quite intent on using as many abstract adjectives and structured sentences as he can, all in the name of appearing more intelligent, if he wasnt so caught up in this authoring style it could of been a lot better.That aside, the book goes through chapters of programming concepts and theory starting with javascript moving onto functions arrays, and OOP unfortunatly he expects you to understand something, by him showing you a html file with that thing happening and you to magically remember how it works, he explains how it works, once. Then you are expected to remember it and use it for your own application, I have a lot of initiative and I am no computer newbie but remembering what this man tried to teach me was impossible. I had to create my own exercises exercises that could of been in the book or linked to online, you cant look at a car engine and know how it works but if you put one together your about 10 times more likely to understand it, that is what is missing from this book. This guy might be a great flasher/programmer but hes certainly not a great author he does not know how to communicate with a lower level of skill and that is a given. Apart from that , once you make yourself a lot of excersizes and go through the book you are left with a definitive understanding of what the author is trying to teach, if you are someone who doesnt mind putting a bit of extra time in to go over the one page several times then you will get a lot out of this book, I must admit if it was crammed full of tests ect; that helped you to remember this stuff, there would be a lot less information overall in it, maybe thats the idea considering its about 900 pages. In short this book is by no means a teacher, but a reference for you to learn from and it takes a lot of work from you but in the end I would rather this then a flat out newbie style learning book that covered ½ of what this book does. 3 stars from me -1 for someone who might find it a bit harder to work wtih ie; EVERYONE.
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Summary: Waiter!, the check please...
Review: I have no other option than to agree with some of the others here who have found it necessary to beat this book up a bit. It's deserved. This book is really a Flash 5 book masquerading as a MX source. There is some sprinkling of material in there, but this book should never have been able to have that title. Of course MX means sales. It's the latest & greatest at the moment. There are plenty of great MX books out there... I suggest you pick one of those books up and leave this one alone. Sorry...
Rating: 
Summary: Stay Away From This Book
Review: I picked this up based on the comments and the fact it was one of the first books about Flash MX on the market at the time. I was so disappointed with the book. I've been working with FLash for a bit and I was lost with what he was trying to say. Don't believe the hype.
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Summary: Tons of information, well organized, and not too wordy
Review: I read these reviews all the time, and I wonder about the people writing them. As you'll note, my review's title is diametrically opposed to another review posted for this book. Basically, it's like this. This is a fine book. The author is a good writer. The coverage and organization is thought out. He obviously spent a substantial amount of time researching Flash and ActionScript, as well as associated technologies covered in the book. Basically, this is a 5-star piece of work. Why people who can verily write a square sentence feel the need to lambaste professional authors is beyond me, and no, I am not the author's brother. If you buy this fine tome, you will not be disappointed.
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Summary: I'm shocked!
Review: I've read some reviews here and I'm shoked. These good reviews are not true.
I am really disappointed from this book.
I've read many flash mx books and I can say this is NOT a Flash mx book. This is a Flash 5 book badly (very badly) rearranged to the Mx sauce. It tells you that video in Flash Mx (!) is not so important so it is better to talk on using flash in quicktime. It talks you about Flash Generator (Generator is an obsolete Macromedia product and most of it's function are now included in Mx). I'm sorry to see the author dedicates the books to his parents. Shame on him.
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Summary: Perfect for developers
Review: If you have Flash experience and you want to extend your skills, I would recommend this book. The book is very organized. The author begins with an overview of the Flash environment, focusing on changes and innovations that will matter to you. Then, he launches into some high-level design concepts that advanced readers need to know about. Next, you are treated to a thorough survey of ActionScript - in all of its MX wonder. The next sections focus on server-side development, optimization, offline multimedia, and 3D, which everyone should know about. The writing is clean and concise. Better yet, the coverage of PHP, MySQL, and XML is priceless. I found the book easy-to-read and a nice addition to my library.
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Summary: The Good Stuff
Review: Wow. I am glad I crossed this book's path. Clear, organized, and easy to read, in a few words. I got more out of this book then most. The author understands what you are looking for. He avoids the boring environment overview and "how to make a button" trap and gets to the good stuff - running Flash apps with dynamic data. This is a nice one for the shelf.
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