Foundation Flex for Developers: Data-Driven Applications with Php, Asp.Net, Coldfusion, and LCDs

This book a great way to get you working in Flex fast... if you already have a good understanding of AS3 from a Flash background. If you're not familiar with AS3 than there are some sticking points that slow you down. But if you're goal is to transition form working in Flash to working in Flex, then this book is an excellent place to start.

This book was an in depth coverage of the Flex technology, from creating custom components to how to build data driven applications. There is a great chapter on integrating with the web browser using javascript or an Ajax-Flex bridge. It goes very in depth in covering XML in Flex builder with detailed information on understanding E4X expressions. Which I will refer back to many times in my development process for these great techniques. And great best practice information for MXML. I would have liked more coverage of how to integrate Flex with the Flash IDE type workflow. Other than creating components. There's a good but brief overview of AS3. The case studies for connecting to data-driven applications are pretty short but useful. The PHP chapter walks though a Flex blog management system with a tabbed interface. It walks through how to set this up in with PHP code and how to connect to a MySQL database. With all the sample files available for download on the Friends of Ed website. The book is very long (over 500 pages) and most useful for me as a desk reference when needing assistance while working with particular items in Flex. It tries to cover so much in terms of data driven technologies that the individual case studies feel a bit shallow. Overall, I recommend this book to anyone that wants to learn or improve their knowledge of Flex and best practices using AS3 in Flex.