Macromedia Flash Super Samurai [With CDROM]

I have a total of 8 Flash books, 6 from friendsofed, two from Macromedia. This one from MM, Super Samurai, is actually the best in teaching me intermediate level Flash. For learning the basic principles of 3D, and using Flash with database, the relevant chapters in Super Samurai beat other books in my possession by miles. The explanations are clear and detailed, and the examples work. I especially love the shopping cart example used to demonstrate how to link Flash to a database using XML and ASP. On 3D, there is simply no comparison between Super Samurai's chapter and Flash 5 Studio's chapter. Super Samurai's is easy to understand and detailed, while Flash 5 Studio just give you a few examples without much explanation. I wonder if the author of F5S really understands the examples. Even the 3D example in Flash MX Designers ActionScript Reference by Friendsofed looks muddled when compared with SS's. I have learned so much from this one book. Strangely, when I looked for other books by the author of the chapter on XML, Michael Grundvig, the only other book that he co-wrote on this topic got a really lousy review. It just shows that publishers can give quite inconsistent quality books even with the same authors.

Usually when I buy a book of this nature I like to sit down and read a couple of pages first. I went to Borders last week looking for a book on Flash and XML. There were numerous books with those words in their title and after reading a few and finding none that my mind could get a handle on I scanned the shelves. I eyes saw this flashy cover and name and decided to browse through it. To my surprise I found the portion on XML and flash very helpful. I ended up walking out the store with this book under my arm. I have not read the other chapters with the math sections in them and might never get round to doing it. I think the sound and 3D sections will be very useful.

I haven't check this book out, but it must deserve 5 stars because the publisher was smart enough to include Geoff Stearns from deconcept.com. Keep your eye on this one, the force is strong with him!

I picked this sucker up - and at first i thought it was some kind of ego play. Super Samurai? Who do these guys think they are? But I thumbed through the book anyway, and wow! I have to admit there is some amazing coding going on here! The audio chapter perked my attention, the component thing was cool, and all of the 3D and physics looked tasty. I haven't put the book down since I bought it and I'm learning great & useful things with each turn of the page. i love it!

I just got the book and it looks GREAT! Authors really know what they're talking about and I'm learning a tremendous amount from them. The chapters I really love are the ones on 3d, database integration, physics and XML. This book skips over the BS and goes right to the important stuff. If you're tired of the so-called advanced books that explain all the basics to you, this is the book to get. The authors don't play around, they get right to the point. Great work guys!