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AdvancED AIR Applications
The Adobe Integrated Runtime, or AIR as it is more commonly known, has taken RIA development by storm. The ability to create OS-neutral desktop applications from the familiar Flex environment has opened the door to new and exciting applications that combine the ease of data access and update-ability of the internet with the security and stick-ability of the desktop. AdvancED AIR Applications takes you step-by-step through what's possible with AIR, not only teaching you the advanced techniques, but also providing case studies to show them in action.

Teaches AdvancED AIR techniques, such as multi-user and multi-window applications.
Step-by-step case studies show you the technology in the real world.
Reveals how to make AIR applications secure.

What you'll learn

Use the File API for advanced file system manipulation.
Learn how to drag and drop files from your desktop and upload them to a website.
Work with the Operating System to allow things such as Clipboard access and manipulation.
Use the Windowing API to create multi-window applications.
Utilize binary sockets to create an email application.
Create multi-user applications, such as instant messaging clients.

Who is this book for?

AIR developers who have learned the basics and want to take their skills a step further. This book will take the skeleton of technologies that you've learned so far, and show you how to apply them to real-world projects.

AdvancED Flash CS4
This book targets those developers who want to take an advanced look at the capabilities of the new Flash CS4. If you’ve heard of the great new features that CS4 brings, such as the Motion Builder, Pixel Bender, and 3D effects, then this book will tell you in depth how they work, and how you can get the best out of them in your own applications—of course, it will also give you details of all the smaller, but no less important changes to Flash that you may not have heard of. It covers all of the new improvements in CS4, and also seeks to consolidate your knowledge of the enhancements that were put into the previous version of the Flash platform, but have not yet been picked up and used to their full potential by many Flash users.

Covers all the new features of Flash CS4
Goes in-depth into how to use the features, rather than just saying what they do
Teaches you advanced tips and tricks for existing and new features

AdvancED Flex 4

AdvancED Flex 4 makes advanced Flex 4 concepts and techniques easy. Ajax, RIA, Web 2.0, mashups, mobile applications, the most sophisticated web tools, and the coolest interactive web applications are all covered with practical, visually oriented recipes.

Completely updated for the new tools in Flex 4
Demonstrates how to use Flex 4 to create robust and scalable enterprise-grade Rich Internet Applications.
Teaches you to build high-performance web applications with interactivity that really engages your users.

What you'll learn

Practiced beginners and intermediate users of Flex, especially those with a knowledge of other web development tools, will learn to leverage Flex 4â??s new tools and capabilities to build truly advanced web applications.

Get the most out of the new features introduced in Flex 4.
Integrate Flex 4 with PHP, Java, JavaScript, and Ruby on Rails.
Leverage architectural and design patterns.
Create mashups and collaborative applications using Flex 4.
Build rich media applications using audio and video streaming and open source 3D libraries.
Tune the performance of your Flex applications.

Who is this book for?

This book is for web developers who want and need to create Rich Internet Applications on time and within budget. It is also for all Flex developers including those upgrading from Flex 3, intermediate users who want to build their skills to an advanced level, and other web developers who want to integrate their web tools with Flex.

AdvancED Game Design with Flash

Creating games in Flash is a never-ending journey of exploration, learning, and most of all, fun. Once you’ve mastered the basics, a new world is opened up to you, enabling you to take your existing skills to the next level and discover new skills that will in turn open new doors. This book is a direct continuation of Foundation Game Design with Flash, and is a complete point-by-point roundup of the most important skills a Flash game designer needs to know. You’ll increase your ActionScript knowledge and your game design skills while creating some excellent example games. You’ll learn advanced collision detection skills; professional AI and pathfinding; and how to load and save game data, create destructible environments, and build and switch game levels. The book culminates in an advanced case study creating a multiplayer role-playing game (RPG).

Each chapter highlights a new advanced technique illustrated by practical examples.
Examples of games are given in a variety of genres, including online multiplayer, all of which take an object-oriented programming approach.
Advanced game design topics are covered, including vector-based collision reaction, pathfinding, billiard ball physics, and modeling game data.

What you’ll learn

How to use vectors to figure out where objects are going and how they should react to collisions
Pixel-perfect collision detection for irregular shapes using hitTest and bitmapData
How to use design patterns and abstract data models to manage complex games efficiently
How to load, save, and share game data, both online and offline
How to create advanced enemy AI systems using pathfinding strategies in grid-based environments
How to use XML, CMS, and JavaServer technologies to build multiplayer games

Who is this book for?

This book is for experienced Flash and ActionScript 3.0 developers who want to take their game design skills to a professional level. Readers should have a solid background in object-oriented ActionScript 3.0 programming, and may have attempted game projects of their own. If you have read Foundation Game Design with Flash, then this book will be a natural next step for you. The book covers game design strategies and techniques common to many game design platforms—not just Flash—and will help you create top-quality games that are quick to build and easy to maintain.

Experience Papervision3D

Flash Builder and Flash Caralyst: The New Workflow

The Flash Platform is changing. Flash Builder and Flash Catalyst have brought a new separation of design and coding to web development that enables a much more efficient and streamlined workflow. For designers and developers used to the close confines of Flash, this is a hugely liberating but at first alien concept. This book teaches you the new workflow for the Flash platform. It gives an overview of the technologies involved and provides you with real-world project examples and best-practice guidelines to get from design to implementation with the tools at hand.

Includes many examples
Focuses on real-world situations
Covers designer and developer workflow

What you’ll learn

Use the new workflow from design to implementation.
Learn best practices for Flex development.
Determine the right tools for the job.
Gain basic knowledge of Flash Catalyst.
Gain basic knowledge of Flash Builder 4.

Who this book is for

This book is intended for people that want to understand how design and development are brought closer together with Flash Catalyst and Flash Builder 4. Although it can be quite helpful to already have some basic knowledge of Flex, the book will provide you with an overview of the main features and lots of coding examples that are explained in detail.

Flex 4 Solutions: Essential Techniques for Flex Developers
As a Flex developer, you'll no doubt come across repetitive problems every day in your work—wouldn't it be nice to have a library of solutions to turn to, to solve these problems quickly and easily? Well, this book provides just that, with over 100 solutions to common problems in one easy volume, all fully updated and revised for Flex 4.

In Flex Solutions, renowned Flash and Flex expert Marco Casario assumes you know the basics, and dives straight into practical code examples that you could build up yourselves via step by step tutorials, and plug straight in to your own code, saving you hours of development time.

Areas explored include Flex components, charting, working with remote data, data validation, displaying data with list based controls, controlling the look and feel of your applications, application security, working with dynamic data sources (such as ColdFusion, PHP, and Java backends,) and much more. In each solution, Marco takes you through the workings of the example step by step, and then presents some expert's tips, which will take your understanding further, and give you unique insights into Flex development.

Flex Solutions: Essential Techniques for Flex 2 and 3 Developers: 9781590598764

Foundation Drupal 7: Learn How to Use the Drupal Framework to Quickly Build Feature-rich Websites
Drupal can significantly decrease the amount of time it takes to code a feature-rich web site, for free. Drupal is a content management platform that can power all kinds of web sites—from simple online brochures to more advanced sites that include social networking, blogs, e-commerce, and business portals. It is free, open source software that allows anyone to quickly and easily build web sites.

Its full range of modules—including user permissions, security mechanisms, JavaScript menus, WYSIWYG editors, and more—helps create the foundation for a powerful web site. Combined with its templating system (and a few tips and tricks), any graphic design file can be used to create a Drupal web site.

This book covers everything you need to build Drupal-powered web sites quickly. It explains in simple terms how Drupal works, and it provides concepts, tips, and code snippets for every step of the development process. A 200-plus page reference manual and cookbook is included.

Helps web designers of all technical abilities create Drupal-powered web sites from start to finish
Gives an overview of Drupal concepts and several contributed modules necessary to understand and leverage Drupal
Describes the process of building and hosting Drupal web sites, including server administration, design tips, theming, system updates, and more

What you’ll learn

• How to get started using Drupal 7 and reduce the amount of time it takes to code a feature-rich web site
• How Drupal works, including best practices to quickly integrate Drupal into every web site you design
• How to configure a server and manage multiple web sites and testing environments using popular server administration software (cPanel) and a code repository (Subversion)
• How to place Photoshop or Illustrator design files on a Drupal content management system (CMS)
• How to create a foundational CMS that can be used across multiple web sites
• How to use popular Drupal modules, web site recipes, code snippets, and more

Who is this book for?

The primary audience for this book is web site designers throughout the world interested in using Drupal to build web sites. The audience may have previous experience using Drupal but do not consider themselves proficient. They are familiar with coding a basic HTML/CSS web site, although these skills are not required to benefit from the book.

The secondary audience for this book is freelance Drupal developers who actively use Drupal to build web sites. They are proficient developers interested in reducing development time and learning Drupal best practices.

Foundation Expression Blend 4 with Silverlight 4

Foundation Flash CS5 for Designers

Foundation Flash Catalyst

This book offers an introduction to Flash Catalyst for designers with intermediate to advanced skills. It discusses where Catalyst sits within the production process and how it communicates with other programs. It covers all of the features of the Flash Catalyst workspace, teaching you how to create designs from scratch, how to build application designs and add functionality, and how to master the Catalyst/Flex workflow.

Introduces Flash Catalyst
Focuses on production process
Covers the interrelation between Flash Catalyst and Photoshop/Illustrator/Flex/Flash

What you’ll learn

Starting from scratch, you’ll learn the basic concepts and interface functionality of Flash Catalyst, and get practical experience by working on carefully crafted real-life projects throughout the book. You’ll learn every stage of the process, from the first design sketches to the Flex Developer hand over, and how you can make design changes to assets while the developers work on the code. You’ll also learn how to make your designs functional by adding simple buttons and scroll bars, and how to make sure that developers can precisely interpret your vision.

Converting Photoshop/Illustrator artwork to interactive designs
Sketching designs with interactivity
Sketching designs with transitions
Working with the FXG format
Designing with fluid layouts in Catalyst

Who this book is for

This book is for designers experienced with Photoshop, Illustrator, and Fireworks who want to include Flash Catalyst in their workflows. It’s also for the general audience looking to design rich Internet applications using Catalyst.

Getting StartED with Google Apps

How would you like to share your calendar, access your e-mail, or create and share documents, all online from your smartphone/mobile device, netbook, or desktop? If you answered yes, then you should know that the best of all these online applications and services are being offered for free, from one of the Internet’s biggest names, Google. These apps are in an online suite of productivity and fun applications called Google Apps.

Getting StartED with Google Apps gets you started collaborating and creating with Google’s online suite of applications on the Chrome operating system—analogous to using Microsoft Office on Windows. The differences are that Google Apps and Chrome are mostly free and run entirely on the Web.

With this book, you get clear and easy-to-use instructions for getting up and running with basic Google Apps like Gmail, Google Voice, and more. Moreover, you get detailed visuals and step-by-step explanations on the more sophisticated Google apps like Google Docs, Spreadsheets, Presentations, SketchUp, and more. So get going and have some fun while you’re at it.

What you’ll learn

How to use Google’s suite of online applications, Google Apps
How to set up your home office or company on Google Apps
How to create a collaborative Google Apps environment and online network
How to create, edit and share your Google Docs online
How to communicate and educate with online video
How to create websites for yourself, your organization or the world
How to organize and share your online calendar
How to set up and manage organizational e-mail with custom domains

Who is this book for?

This book is for any user of the Web, especially a user who accesses and uses the Web mostly from a smartphone, mobile device, or netbook—devices that offer little or no hard drive. Of course, desktop users also apply. Secondly, this book is for business users and IT managers considering Google Apps for cutting costs and other reasons.

Getting StartED with Java Platform
There are so many different subsets of Java across the Java Platform—Java SE, Java EE, Java ME, Java FX—that it’s hard to know where to start. The answer is right here! Getting StartED with the Java™ Platform is a complete beginner’s guide to the Java Platform that cuts through all of the confusion and guides you through creating applications in Java.

The beauty of Java is that once you’ve learned the basics of the language, you can write applications to run on anything from your desktop PC, to your mobile phone, to the Internet. You will come to grips with the Java Development Kit and follow step-by-step examples to learn how to write your first programs in Java.

Absolute beginner’s guide to the Java language
Clear, friendly, no-nonsense approach cuts through the jargon
A wealth of step-by-step examples and sample programs to get you started with Java
What you’ll learn

• What the Java Platform is, and how the different parts of it fit together
• How to install the Java Development Kit and the Java Runtime Environment
• The basics of programming from the ground up with jargon-free explanation
• How to write applications using Java that will run on almost any device
• The fundamentals of object-oriented programming—a structured style of programming that isn’t as hard as you think
• How to create web applications in Java, and the basics of Java FX

Who is this book for?

This book is for anyone wanting to understand what Java is, whether they intend to program or not, and anyone intending to begin programming in the Java language.

Getting StartED with JavaScript

Innovative JavaScript behaviors are the hallmark of Web 2.0 interface designs. Visit Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, or any other web titan, and you will find JavaScript implementations providing a smooth, tactile, engaging web experience. Knowledge of JavaScript is essential for developing modern, interactive, sticky web sites, but many beginners are put off by the daunting need to learn a programming language before they can achieve anything.

This book takes a practical approach by showing you how to use JavaScript in simple stages, starting with the basics of storing and manipulating data and moving on to reacting to events and using JavaScript to alter CSS and HTML on the fly. It assumes no prior knowledge of JavaScript, and avoids bombarding you with unnecessary technical details.

At the same time, it explains the main points and acts as a reference that you can come back to when you need to refresh your memory. More advanced concepts are introduced gradually, so that by the end of the book you’ll have a solid understanding of all the main aspects of JavaScript. Particular attention is paid to debugging and avoiding common beginners’ pitfalls, enabling you to create web sites that not only look good, but are dynamic and exciting for visitors.

Requires no previous knowledge of JavaScript
Gives you instant results—starts showing how to change values and react to events stage by stage
Doesn’t bombard you with endless rules and jargon

What you’ll learn

How to immediately improve the feel of your entire web site by reacting to the user’s input with just a few lines of code
How to store and control data to improve your viewer’s experience
How to change the look of your web site on the fly by manipulating the CSS markup
How to search XHTML documents to retrieve and display relevant data in real time
How to use cookies to store data on users’ machines to remember their preferences the next time they visit your site
How to use Ajax to change the content of your web site without the need to refresh the page

Who is this book for?

This book is aimed at anybody who wants to learn how to use JavaScript to create more interactive and stickier web sites. The primary readership is likely to be independent web developers and serious hobbyists, but knowledge of JavaScript is essential for many web development careers, so this book should also find a place in the curriculum of academic courses in media studies.

Getting StartED with Making iPhone Apps

The iPhone is the hottest gadget of our generation, and much of its success has been fueled by the App Store, Apple’s online marketplace for iPhone applications. Over 1 billion apps have been downloaded in the 9 months the App Store has been open, ranging from the simplest games to the most complex business apps. Everyone has an idea for the next best-selling iPhone app—presumably that’s why you’re reading this now.

So how do you build an iPhone application? Don’t you need to spend years learning complicated programming languages? What about Objective-C, Cocoa Touch, and the SDK? The answer is that you don’t need to know any of those things. Anybody can start building simple applications for the iPhone, and this book will show you how.

This book takes you to getting your first applications up and running using plain English and practical examples. It cuts through the fog of jargon and misinformation that surrounds iPhone application development, and gives you simple, step-by-step instructions to get you started.

Teaches iPhone application development in language anyone can understand
Provides simple, step-by-step examples that make learning easy
Offers videos that enable you to follow along with the author—it’s like your own private classroom

What you’ll learn

Get both yourself and your computer set up for iPhone application development.
Start by making small changes to existing applications to build your knowledge and experience before creating your own applications.
Follow steps in plain English to build simple apps and get them working immediately.
Style your application so that it looks good and users can easily navigate through it.
Make use of the iPhone’s touch screen and accelerometer.
Use shortcuts and cheat sheets to create apps the easy way.

Who is this book for?

If you have a great idea for an iPhone app, but have never programmed before, then this book is for you. You don’t need to have any previous computer programming skills—as long as you have a desire to learn, and you know which end of the mouse is which, you’ll be fine.

Getting StartED with Windows Live Movie Maker

Windows Live Movie Maker is a small but powerful movie editing application from Microsoft. It is a complete rewrite of the old Movie Maker software with a new audience in mind. The focus of this new edition is on giving you the power to quickly create movies and slideshows to share with your friends and family. The movies can be a combination of your favorite pictures and home movies set to your own soundtrack. You can add cool effects to transition between scenes, and captions to add a narrative to your movie. With Movie Maker, users can:

Edit digital video and photos, including adding music and narration
Apply animation effects to videos and photos
Create DVDs for personal use, including menu systems for navigation

What you’ll learn

Learn what’s new and different with the Live version of Movie Maker; find out where to download it and view an installation walkthrough.
Discover the basics of importing pictures and video, how to use AutoMovie and perform some easy tweaks on it, and how to save projects.
Experiment with trimming, splitting, and rotating video, fading-in/out, using the View menu to zoom in/out and switch between aspect ratios, arranging storyboard items, and previewing movies.
Learn how to import, trim, and fade music in/out; use start/end points; control volume; and edit audio in a movie clip.
Use formatting, color, size, transparency, and start/end times to add text animation, titles, captions, and credits to your movies.
Learn about DVD formats, creating menu systems, HD (720 and 1080) vs. standard formats, portable devices, e-mail attachments, and IM formats.
Learn tips for enhancing movie and sound quality, file management, menu organization, and creating interesting DVD movies to share.

Who this book is for

Most digital video editing applications have a steep learning curve and a thick manual. Windows Live Movie Maker is not difficult to learn, but it does not come with a manual. This book is for readers who want to quickly and easily edit their digital movies and create DVDs for viewing, but donï¿½t want to sift through a lot of technical mumbo jumbo.

High Performance Flash CS5: Performance Tuning for Flash, Flex, AIR and Mobile Applications

The Essential Guide to 3D in Flash

If you are an ActionScript developer and you'd like to work with 3D in Flash, this book is for you. You will learn the core Flash 3D concepts, using the open source Away3D engine as a primary tool. Once you have mastered these skills, you will be able to realize the possibilities that the available Flash 3D engines, languages, and technologies have to offer you with Flash and 3D.

Describes 3D concepts in theory and their implementation using Away3D
Dives right in to show readers how to quickly create an interactive, animated 3D scene, and builds on that experience throughout the book
Each chapter contains a number of tutorials that focus on one specific feature or group of features

What you'll learn

Use Away3D to incorporate real-time 3D into your Flash productions.
Enable users to interact with your 3D content.
Use lighting and shading to make your scene look realistic.
Animate your 3D scene in real time.
Use visual effects such as reflection, filters, and normal/bump mapping.
Use Away3D along with other frameworks (e.g., for real-time simulated physics).

Who is this book for?

This book is for Flash developers wanting to learn to use 3D effects within Flash using open source tools.

The Essential Guide to Flash Games: Building Interactive Entertainment with ActionScript

The Essential Guide to Flash Games is a unique tool for Flash game developers. Rather than focusing on a bunch of low-level how-to material, this book dives straight into building games. The book is divided into specific game genre projects, covering everything from old classics such as a Missile Command-style game, to hot new genres such as tower defense. The chapters build in complexity through the book, and new tools are introduced along the way that can be reused for other games.

The game projects covered start simple and increase in complexity as more and more tools are added to your tool chest.
Ten full game projects are discussed in detail. Each solves a very different game development problem and builds on the knowledge gained from the previous project.
Many advanced game development techniques are covered, including particle systems, advanced controls, AI, blitting, scrolling, and more.

What you’ll learn

Flash/Flex ActionScript 3 game development
How to apply object-oriented game development techniques
How to solve a wide variety specific Flash game programming problems
How to develop a game engine and set of tools that can be reused
How to implement ten different games (in styles ranging from retro to modern Flash games)
How to optimize various games

Who is this book for?

This book is for intermediate Flash developers, Flash game developers, game developers looking to move to the Flash platform, and experienced web developers who want to learn how to make games.

The Essential Guide to Flex 4
Flex 4 is the new version of Adobe's revolutionary rich internet application development environment, and this book covers all the basic and advanced topics needed to master Flex 4. Whatever level the reader is in Flex development, they will gain a great deal from this book - it covers everything from installation and environment basics through language essentials, to advanced topics such as charting components and connecting to server-side environments such as ColdFusion and .NET.

Rather than being a mere beginner's book or reference guide, this book provides a very thorough learning guide, including all the new features that come with Flex 4.

The Essential Guide To Flex 3: 9781590599501

The Essential Guide to iPhone Application Development for Flash Users

There is a buzz going around the interactive media community, and it's all about the iPhone. Agencies are getting demands from their clients to build iPhone applications. End users are downloading millions of applications. Web developers who focus on building Flash applications are in a unique position to make the switch to building iPhone applications. They already have a keen understanding about programming for a visual environment, and they understand how to build applications and minigames for websites.

This book will serve as an introduction to Objective-C for those developers with an understanding of ActionScript. For a Flash developer who never developed for Mac OS X, contemplating this switch can be a daunting idea. When compared side by side, the environment used to build Flash applications and the iPhone SDK are not all that dissimilar, and this book will help Flash developers recognize those similarities and use that knowledge to create engaging iPhone applications for their clients.

This book will help anyone who is building Flash applications to add "iPhone applications" to their arsenal of skills.

Learn how to develop for iPhone
Transfer your skills from ActionScript to Objective-C
Master the iPhone SDK

What you'll learn

Readers of this book will learn how to use their existing knowledge about Flash development to more quickly learn how to write applications for the iPhone using the iPhone SDK and all of its tools.

Create applications in Objective-C
Identify the differences between ActionScript and Objective-C
Identify the similarities between the languages and how to leverage ActionScript development knowledge in Objective-C
Learn how to get the most out of the iPhone SDK
Use iPhone-specific features such as the accelerometer, camera and GPS in your applications
Deploy applications on the iPhone

Who is this book for?

This book is for experienced Flash developers who are interested in starting to learn how to build applications for the iPhone.

Friends of Ed books are available from all good bookstores, computer stores and on-line retailers.

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