Programming Flex 3

The Comprehensive Guide to Creating Rich Internet Applications with Adobe Flex

By Chafic Kazoun, Joey Lott
September 2008
Pages: 657
Series: Adobe Developer Library
ISBN 10: 0-596-51621-5 | ISBN 13: 9780596516215
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 Description

If you want to try your hand at developing rich Internet applications with Adobe's Flex 3, and already have experience with frameworks such as .NET or Java, this is the ideal book to get you started. Programming Flex 3 gives you a solid understanding of Flex 3's core concepts, and valuable insight into how, why, and when to use specific Flex features. Learn to get the most from this amazing and sophisticated technology.
Full Description

If you want to try your hand at developing rich Internet applications with Adobe's Flex 3, and already have experience with frameworks such as .NET or Java, this is the ideal book to get you started. Programming Flex 3 gives you a solid understanding of Flex 3's core concepts, and valuable insight into how, why, and when to use specific Flex features. Numerous examples and sample code demonstrate ways to build complete, functional applications for the Web, using the free Flex SDK, and RIAs for the desktop, using Adobe AIR. This book is an excellent companion to Adobe's Flex 3 reference documentation. With this book, you will:

  • Learn the underlying details of the Flex framework
  • Program with MXML and ActionScript
  • Arrange the layout and deal with UI components
  • Work with media
  • Manage state for applications and components
  • Use transitions and effects
  • Debug your Flex applications
  • Create custom components
  • Embed Flex applications in web browsers
  • Build AIR applications for the desktop

Flex 3 will put you at the forefront of the RIA revolution on both the Web and the desktop. Programming Flex 3 will help you get the most from this amazing and sophisticated technology.


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Nice Beginner Book,  April 17 2009
Rating: StarStarStarStarStar
Submitted by Rich   [Respond | View]

I received this book with no prior AS3 experience or any working within Flash, although I have seen both in use a bit, so I wasn't totally new to the environment.

Chapter 1-3 & 5 really helped me to understand the Flex environment and how to work with it. They probably should have been in that order.

I got bogged down in Chapter 4, which is a great reference, but not something to dwell on when trying to learn.

Chapters 7-10 were great, but after getting bogged down earlier, I wasn't much in the mood to dwell on these. Other than that though, these chapters provided a bit of a knowledge base to work off of.

Chapter 11 seemed a bit out of place, but covers how Flash (yes I know we are talking Flex) and hence Flex are designed to work with media very easily. This could have been next to Chapter 13 for effects and transitions.

Chapter 12 is probably the most useful for understanding how to create an application overall in Flex.

Chapter 14-17 covered dealing with data and communication of data back and forth, which I didn't spend much time at all on.

Chapter 18-22 covered the basics of working with applications and dealing with them. Where Chapter 22 seemed to be the most useful.

I pretty much after getting bogged down in Chapter 4, read Chapter 5, skimmed the rest and jumped straight to the last chapter and it's example. I was able to get this working flawlessly.

Overall, this is a great book for learning Flex, however my one complaint is that it is geared towards working directly with FlexBuilder product from Adbobe, which I didn't bother using at all.
No complaints about the book other than that though and well worth your time and money if your going to be working in this environment and there is enough in this book to allow you to extend and expand upon it well beyond what is just presented.


A must have for every flex developer!,  September 30 2008
Rating: StarStarStarStarStar
Submitted by Kyle Tyacke   [Respond | View]


I just got my copy of Programming Flex 3 in the mail yesterday and have already found it to be extremely useful! Like most titles in O'Reilly's "Adobe Developer Library" series, the book is very well organized and contains useful and understandable examples. One thing that Joey and Chafic have done very well is to keep the chapters focused, not bloating them with unnecessary technical jargon that may confuse readers who are new to Flex. This is not to say that this book is by any means only for beginners, as it dives into many advanced topics, it just does it in such a way that it will be easily understood by reader of any skill level.

As the title suggests, I believe that this book will be a valuable asset to any flex developer, and it has found a permanent home on my desk next to my copies of The Flex 3 Cookbook, The Actionscript 3 Cookbook, and Essential Actionscript 3. If you are looking to learn Flex from the ground up, or would simply like a very good reference manual covering all of the topics that you will most likely encounter on a day to day basis, then I would highly recommend this book!

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"This title contains everything you need to know to add Flex applications to web pages..."
-- Nadia Russ, Wonderpedia



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