Introduction:
At this week's Flash Forward 2001 conference, Colin Moock announced that he's finally coming out of his 1.5 year seclusion. What's he been doing all this time? Working on his so-called "red colour project" (www.moock.org/webdesign/flash/redcolourproject/), which Flash Kit has learned is a new book about Flash programming entitled "ActionScript: The Definitive Guide," (O'reilly & Associates). We had a chance to interview Colin about the book before he left for the conference.

Flask Kit:
What inspired you to write a book about Flash programming?

moock:
In the summer of 1999 I wrote three chapters for "The Flash 4 Bible". The chapters focussed on interactivity, and provided me with only 15 pages to describe programming in Flash. I thought it was a drag that there was so little information about programming around the web or in print, so I figured I'd write a short book on programming Flash 4.

FK:
But the book isn't about Flash 4 programming. What happened?

moock:
By the time I got around to talking to a publisher, Flash 5 was already under development. In October of 1999, O'reilly and I struck up a relationship and I started researching. But by the beginning of 2000, several discussions with Macromedia led to a change in the book's focus: it would cover Flash 5 programming exclusively. For Flash 5, Macromedia was developing a new JavaScript-style programming language called ActionScript. The new language was much more complex and deserved a much longer, more technical, and more detailed book.

FK:
So you had some input from Macromedia?

moock:
Yes, they were an enormous help and very supportive. Jeremy Clark, Flash's product manager, gave me lots of ideas about general topics to cover. Gary Grossman, the creator of ActionScript at Macromedia, was the book's lead technical editor. He read nearly every page, helped refine concepts, and even listened graciously to suggestions I had for the new language. I remember him asking me how important I thought the "push" and "pop" methods were for arrays, and he expected me to answer in "player byte size". Slavik Lozben (Principal Engineer on Flash 5) and Erica Norton (ActionScript Quality Assurance) also participated in the technical edit. It was a real pleasure and luxury to work so closely with the people that create Flash. They are exceptionally talented and passionate.

FK:
What's in the book, itself?

moock:
There are three sections. Part 1, "ActionScript Fundamentals," describes fundamental programming concepts. Things like variables, loops, conditionals, functions, arrays, event handlers, objects, etc. Part 2, "Applied ActionScript" describes the more practical aspects of creating code, like using the authoring environment, debugging, and packaging code in external files or as smart clips. It also covers some applied examples, such as creating online forms. Part 3, "Language Reference," is a detailed reference outlining each of ActionScript's global functions, properties, objects, and classes. Writing the reference was labor-intensive, but fun, especially because I saw many features evolve during the development of Flash 5, and had more room to describe functionality than Macromedia had in their ActionScript Reference Guide.

FK:
Are there many code samples or sample projects included, like you find in Flash 5 Magic or New Masters of Flash?

moock:
There are definitely a lot of examples. Almost every entry in the reference section has a brief "real-world" sample, and I dissect many longer examples in the fundamentals section. However, my goal was not to provide a collection of ready-made applications. That approach can obviously be very worthwhile, but I wanted to concentrate more on a full description of the language. People should be able to learn to program by reading the book, not just to customize a guest book or a mouse trailer. As I write in the preface, "This is not a recipe book--it's a lesson in cooking code from scratch."

I've also produced an online companion for the book called "The Code Depot", which is a repository of free building-block .fla files. You can find lots of toys and tools there...things like interface widgets, motion demos, sound code, XML demos, a generic database engine.

FK: Where can people find the Code Depot?

moock:
It's part of the official book support site: http://www.moock.org/asdg/ which I'm hoping to have partially ready by February 18. If I can't make that deadline, check for it in early March, after I get back from the conference.

FK:
How long is the book?

moock:
Something like 700 pages. I had about 670 pages of source text to which O'reilly will add figures, an index, a table of contents, etc. I'm really excited and proud to have a "big" book that focuses entirely on ActionScript. Lots of Flash books are "all-in-wonders" that try to cover every topic. It felt great to really specialize on a particular area of Flash development. I think you'll see more specialization in books now that Flash has matured.

FK:
More importantly, what animal did you get?

moock:
Hehe...well I *asked* for a beaver. Suffice it to say I did not get one. But I think the animal they chose (a "Siren") is pretty wicked. See asdg-cover.gif, attached.

FK:
A year and a half of writing is a long time. What keeps you interested in programming?

moock:
Computers are unbelievably fascinating to me. From the culture and style of technology, to the microscopic engineering of computer hardware to the conceptual back flips caused in our minds as we run around simulated 3d environments with people half-way across the earth. Programming is a means to expression in this new medium.

FK:
So why not just express? Why teach others?

moock:
I guess I've always thought that exploring computer-based expression is a community effort. The group of artists, programmers, and content creators building the web constantly shares information, so ideas continue to evolve. I feed off those ideas and I, therefore, feed back into those ideas.

FK:
You mention "artists". Are they going to be able to read this book and understand it?

moock:
I sure hope so! Some of the most beautiful content I've seen on the web has been produced by designers or artists that "learned a little programming". Programming documentation tends to be exclusive--written by programmers for other programmers. I made a special effort to make Flash programming accessible to the designer audience without dumbing things down to an insulting level, and without boring the hardcore code monkeys. It's a tough balance to strike. I can only hope I hit it. I guess we'll see when the book comes out.

FK:
And when's that?

moock:
Apparently late April or May. But I'll have lots of sample material up at http://www.moock.org/asdg/ before then.

FK:
Great! We look forward to reading it.

moock:
Thanks, I hope you find the time spent worthwhile. If you or the Flash Kit membership have any suggestions, I'm eager to hear them. I'll be taking lots of notes based on reader input so I can make improvements to the next edition.

FK:
Well, thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Good luck at the conference!

moock:
My pleasure. Always happy to hang with Flash Kit. You got the funky sh*t.



[ed] Colin's Flash Forward lecture notes can be found at:
http://www.moock.org/webdesign/lectures/ff2001sfWorkshop/
and
http://www.moock.org/webdesign/lectures/ff2001sfMotion/




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Regards Mark Fennell - Flash Kit Founder, general loiterer
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markfennell.com
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Hey fella's

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