Flash Development for Android Cookbook [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Flash Development for Android is a book not intended for absolute beginners. If you are new to Flash, ActionScript, or the Flex Framework, you will need to brush up on those skills before starting into the book. This book is also not intended to be a project guide to help you build a practical project. (The "cookbook" part of the title does not mean that you will be able to build a useable Android project by following directions in the book.)

What this book does do is cover in each chapter how to use built-in features of the mobile device using ActionScript. This is best done in Flash Builder 4.5 or Flash Professional CS5.5. It is intended more as a reference guide than other programming books out there, which focus on how to build a project from the ground up. This one shows very thoroughly how each of the features of the mobile platform can be accessed.

For example, you will find in the chapter about the accelerometer, what statements you need to import. You will find which methods are used to access most, if not all of the functions of the accelerometer.

One thing that you will not find in this book is practical examples. In the chapter on the accelerometer, it will not give you ideas of how to use the accelerometer to build a labyrinth game. It will merely show you how to address the accelerometer and explain what it outputs.

I say this all not to deter from buying the book, but to clarify that this book is not intended for people who want a practical guide to build a game. This is designed for people who already have a concept of what they want to do with the mobile platform. It will help those people who already know what they want to do to get a good idea of how to do it. In this sense, it is an extremely helpful reference guide. The explanations are thorough, and it covers all of the major features one would use in a Mobile device.

I strongly recommend that you buy this book if you are wanting a book if you already know ActionScript and the Flash Builder or Flash Professional framework. If you do not know those, you are better off starting with some basics of those things [...]. You will not be sorry you got this book if you are looking for a guide on how to do things with the Android platform.

By the way, Flash Builder 4.5 now allows you to build the same app for iOS devices as well as the Blackberry Playbook and Android OS with the same source code. This means that your app has a lot of potential. As far as I know, this is the only reference guide of its kind out there on the Flash / Mobile platform. It is therefore seriously worth your consideration.

So, lately I've found myself trying to better myself in the world of flash programming. And I've come to the realisation that one of the best outlets for my creativity is on the mobile platform. Namely, the diverse Android mobile OS. However upon approaching this hefty task of writing an app for the Android, I found myself way out of my depth.
You see, to program an app for Android you have to think about 101 more factors than you do with a normal PC app. Well only if you want the app to be any good that is...
However fortunately for me, I just so happened to be presented with a marvellous new book specifically catered for my needs. The name of said brilliant book; "Flash Development for Android Cookbook".
This book perfectly covers all the angles that an existing developer needs to progress on to Android development. Well, I say an "existing developer", but in actual fact you can pretty much pick up this book with very little prior knowledge in programming and still get your head around what is going on in a very short space of time.
Right from the word go, the book is teaching you at a very rapid but very structured pace, all the things you should know. It even covers the basics such as setting up your projects to begin with. Which can be useful even for those veteran developers who just need their technique refreshed.
Within days you will find yourself taking advantage of the Android's Multitouch, Gestures and other Inputs, and before you know it you have completed your app. Having utilised things like the systems accelerometer and visual and audio input, you will be shocked at how fast you have learned.
All in all, I think that this book does a brilliant job at encouraging the learner and motivating them to keep progressing at a fast pace, no matter what level of programming they begun with. Definitely a title to check out if you are interested in breaking into the massive mobile app market. 9.5/10.
If you want to find out more about the book, or get the digital version you can find more information at [...]

All those Flash and Flex developers who are concerned about being sidelined by the mobile revolution need fret no longer. What they need to do is get a copy of the indispensible resource, Flash Development for Android Cookbook, by Joseph Lebracqu. As the title suggests, the book walks the reader through easy-to-follow exercises, each targeting a different , core aspect of mobile development. For example, chapter 2 is all about Actionscript Classses specific to the mobile experience, where there is no mouse. And so, we have Multitouch and Gesture Events. By Chapter 5, you are already ramped up to using audio and video, and tapping into the media stored on the Android device. And of course, tapping into the debice's GPS capabilities for creating uniquely mobile apps is also covered. Best of al -- and this cannot be emphasized enough -- the resulting apps are not simply running in the Flash player. The cookbook shows how to use the Air SDK running in conjunction with either Flash SC5.5 or Flash Develop 4.5 to compile your apps into native Android file format. The result are real Android apps--not just Flash Player running on an Android device. The only caveat here is that the reader must be at least intermediate level in Flash Actionscript 3. Knowledge of AS 3, and its events, functions and data-typing are assumed. That said, the material is logically presented and clearly explained, making it as easy as possible to follow this inherently advanced material. The reader will benefit greatly from owning a copy of Flash Pro CS5.5, and/or Flash Develop 4.5 (although it is possible to develop without these). Naturally, a current Android enabled device to test ones apps is also a must, preferably both a tablet and a phone. The serious-minded developer will also have to put the time in, but these are very worthwhile investments -- so roll up your sleeves and get ready to dive in to the world of Flash Development for Android.