Network Programming, XML, SGML, & Other Document Mark-up Languages, Web Graphics, Web Site Design, Web Programming, Flash

Flash and XML: A Developer's Guide

Name: Flash and XML: A Developer's Guide
Author: Dov Jacobson
ISBN: 9780201729207

by Dov Jacobson, Jesse Jacobson

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Overview

"This book is an exceptional training manual to bring a web developer or flash designer with scripting skills into an entirely new world of coding."
—Christopher Ian Smith,

"This is a 'must-read' for any Flash developer."
—John Paul Rawlins, Editor
FlashNewz.com

Flash and

shows designers and developers how to integrate these powerful technologies and create dynamic web sites. With this thoroughly readable guide you take Flash to the next level, interfacing ActionScript with

Flash and XML: A Developer's Guide is a tutorial that brings you up to speed on both technologies, offering clear and concise explanations. In addition, this book presents a number of important web technologies, including PHP, MySQL, and sockets. It shows how to work with these technologies to create n-tier, interactive systems that access the full resources of the Internet.

Sample projects (trivia game,

The companion web site at http://www.Flashand

contains all of the source code referenced in the book, as well as updates, discussion groups, and links to other resources.

Containing plentiful examples, experience-based techniques, and just enough theory, Flash and XML: A Developer's Guide is a one-stop sourcebook that will guide you in the development of web sites that are not only animated, interactive, and powerful, but extremely useful as well.

Specific topics covered include:

Flash architecture
ActionScript techniques
DTD specification
Internet request and response: HTTP
Server scripting with PHP
Basic SQL syntax
Designing MySQL databases
From MySQL to Flash via
Cookies
Packet sniffers
Escaping the Domain Perimeter
Multi-user communication in Flash

Synopsis

This tutorial shows designers and developers how to integrate Flash and XML to create Web sites, and covers several other technologies, including PHP and MySQL, showing how to use them to create n-tier, interactive systems that access the resources of the Internet. Sample projects, including a trivia game and XML browser, showcase the capabilities of Flash and XML used together and demonstrate concepts and techniques. Jacobson heads a small studio that specializes in networked games. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

About the Author, Dov Jacobson

Dov Jacobson heads the Big Fun Development Corporation, a small studio that specializes in networked games. He served as vice president of interactive publishing at Turner Broadcasting and directed product development at Pansophic Systems. He is responsible for nearly two dozen commercial titles and four high-tech creative studios.

Jesse Jacobson sat down to the computer at age two. He has since learned how to use it. He has written code for many Big Fun titles. He also worked on research projects at Georgia Tech and the Technion in Israel. He currently studies at Dartmouth College.

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Editorials

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
Sorry, Flash dudes and dudettes: Eye candy is history. If you don't want the phrase "Skip Intro" tattooed on your forehead, you'd better learn how to make Flash do important, useful stuff -- which means connecting it with the big, corporate, outside world. Fortunately, Flash provides the infrastructure to do it -- and this book gives you the skills.

Friendly, fun to read, and attractively designed in two colors, Flash and XML: A Developer's Guide introduces Flash developers to all the technologies they'll need -- and shows how to put them together.

Dov and Jesse Jacobson begin with readable, thoughtful introductions to both ActionScript and XML -- including application scenarios that show you exactly why this stuff matters so much. There's a full chapter on HTTP from the ActionScripter's point of view: stuff you didn't need to know when you were just spinning shapes but is essential for building XML-based interactive apps.

Next, it's on to downloading and uploading XML, overcoming problems in extracting data from XML documents, and using PHP to integrate Flash with the back-end servers that deliver XML. The Jacobsons also take a long look at database integration, providing SQL examples for the open source MySQL database.

The Jacobsons conclude with two major projects. First, you'll build a complete three-tier application (Flash client, PHP middleware, MySQL back-end database). Then, you'll link with third-party XML publishers, acquiring and manipulating their content (while evading the built-in Flash security restrictions that would otherwise prevent this).

As you can tell, the coverage in Flash and XML is exceptionally broad. As you get comfortable with these techniques, you'll eventually want to dig deeper into more specialized XML texts. But this one does its job splendidly: It opens up whole new worlds for you -- and liberates you, forever, from the "Skip Intro" ghetto. (Bill Camarda)

Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer with nearly 20 years' experience in helping technology companies deploy and market advanced software, computing, and networking products and services. He served for nearly ten years as vice president of a New Jerseybased marketing company, where he supervised a wide range of graphics and web design projects. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks For Dummies®, Second Edition.