Foundation Flash MX Applications

By Scott Mebberson, Steve Webster

Please note that this title is now out-of-print, and so availability is likely to be limited.

This book provides the richest and most solid introduction to the exciting world of Flash applications, which are becoming increasingly popular as ways of presenting visually rich interfaces to useful data and services. The book supplies you with the knowledge, techniques, and skills that you need to help you plan, develop, and build Flash-based applications that you can deploy on the Web.

In true Foundation series style, this book uses step by step exercises and a running case study to build the skills that you can then apply to any Flash application you create. The emphasis in this book is on the generic skills and approaches that are essential in this field, rather than on shallow walk-throughs of trivial projects. You'll come away from this book with a deeper understanding of the issues (architectural, technical, process-related, design-oriented) that are key to developing successful Flash applications for the Web.

This is the only book on the market that focuses on generic, transferable skills that are taught using a case study that'll really drive the learning home. If you want to really understand this subject, then this is the book for you. To get the most out of this book, we recommend that you already have a grasp of the Flash MX interface, as well as some ActionScript experience.
Topics include:

A full-length case study, creating a dynamic Flash message board application.
Designing usable, scalable, and interactive Flash-based applications.
Deploying XML for client/server communication.
Using PHP as an intermediary between XML and back-end data storage.
The MySQL database.
Summary of Contents

Section 1: Framework
1 Essential Concepts
2 Flash applications: in detail

Section 2: Building the Application
3 Structural Elements
4 Building the FlashBlog templates
5 Developing the Message Display Module
6 User Interface Components
7 Behind the scenes I: PHP
8 Behind the Scenes II: MySQL and Data Storage
9 FlashBlog: Plugging it together
10 Interface design

Section 3: Further Resources
11 Departure Lounge
Appendix A – Installing Apache, PHP, and MySQL
Appendix B – PHP Resources

This book is part of friends of ED's 'Foundation' series

The Foundation series is perfect for beginners to a technology, because it doesn't assume any previous knowledge. Each book in the series takes you step by step through your chosen technology, starting with the absolute fundamentals and working through all aspects of the technology, ultimately providing you with a firm grasp of the basics that will enable you to create your own applications or web sites. You will learn by following complete examples at every stage of your journey, often by extended case studies that you will build upon throughout the book. The Foundation series will give you the broad and solid base you need in order to progress to a higher level of expertise.