Category Archives: Writing

New Book Teaser

Writing

I just finished a small book to be published by Packt in January. Not revealing the title or subject matter yet until everything is ready, but I think a lot of people will find it very interesting!

The really cool thing about this and the larger print book that will follow is that my editor and I have been in discussions around this subject for about a year now. In fact, I was still writing the Flash Development for Android Cookbook when he initially brought the idea up. So it is very cool to see it all finally going into production. Length stands at a little over 100 pages right now. Expect more news once the publisher is ready with an announcement.

Here’s a teaser image…

Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 Books

AIR, Flash, Publication, Writing, ,

Adobe today announced that Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 will be shipping fairly soon. This is great news for the community because the runtimes are LOADED with great new features. How do I know the features are great? Because I’ve been working with them for the past couple of months while writing a set of companion books for O’Reilly about them both! In fact – the drafts are complete as of last night and are currently in tech review.

What’s New in Flash Player 11

Comprehensive Quickstarts for Browser-Based Experiences

Author: Joseph Labrecque
Publisher: O’Reilly Media (October, 2011)
ISBN-13: 9781449311094
Pages: 60 (estimated)

This book will detail the various enhancements, new functionalities, and general improvements available in this new version of Adobe Flash Player. Each item is explained in detail and when possible, a series of screen captures and a full code examples will be provided, enabling you to both grasp the new feature in a visual way, and integrate the feature into your own code quickly, based upon example.

What’s New in Adobe AIR 3

Comprehensive Quickstarts for Desktop and Mobile

Author: Joseph Labrecque
Publisher: O’Reilly Media (October, 2011)
ISBN-13: 9781449311070
Pages: 80 (estimated)

This book will detail the various enhancements, new functionalities, and general improvements available in this new version of Adobe AIR. Each item is explained in detail and when possible, a series of screen captures and a full code examples will be provided, enabling you to both grasp the new feature in a visual way, and integrate the feature into your own code quickly, based upon example.

More information will be provided once these books are in the hands of the editor!

Mobile Development with Adobe Flash Professional CS5.5 and Flash Builder 4.5: Learn by Video

Publication, Video, Writing, , , ,

This publication is a set of DVDs (7 hours, 20 minutes) along with a 48 page book covering mobile application development using Flash Builder 4.5 and Flash Professional CS5.5 targeting both Apple iOS and Google Android. I had the opportunity to co-author this title along with the excellent Peter Elst earlier this year. Happy that it is finally available!

Mobile Development with Flash Professional CS5.5 and Flash Builder 4.5: Learn by Video
Create Android and iOS Applications with the Flash Platform

Authors: video2brain, Peter Elst, Joseph Labrecque
Publisher: Peachpit / Adobe Press (September, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0321788109
ISBN-13: 978-0321788108
Pages: 48
Hours: 7.20

In this in-depth course you’ll learn everything you need to know to start developing for mobile and devices on Android and iOS using Flash Platform technology. Top Flash Platform experts Peter Elst and Joseph Labrecque will walk you through the entire workflow from application setup to development and deployment, covering best practices for mobile development and how to debug the applications you create on the desktop or on a device. Along the way you’ll learn how to work with gestures, touch events, hardware APIs, data, multimedia features, and much more. After completing this course you’ll be well on your way to making your mobile projects a reality.

The following videos are FREE:

As always, you can get to all of my major publications through http://josephlabrecque.com/books/.

Available Now!: Flash Development for Android Cookbook

AIR, Writing, , , , ,

I’m thrilled to announce that my Flash Development for Android Cookbook is now available to purchase in print and digital formats!

The book contains 372 pages of useful information and solid recipes for developing killer Android applications using Flash Platform technology.

The Flash Development for Android Cookbook enables Flash developers to branch out into Android mobile applications through a set of essential, easily demonstrable recipes. It takes you through the entire development workflow: from setting up a local development environment, to developing and testing your application, to compiling for distribution to the ever-growing Android Market.

There a a number of people I’d like to call attention to and thank for helping make this book a reality:

  • Scott Janousek: for providing an excellent forward to the book.
  • Fabio Biondi, Sean Moore, and Leonardo Risuleo: for lending a careful set of eyes as technical reviewers.
  • Wilson D’souza: for his expert editorial help through the entire process.
  • Thanks also to my friends in the Adobe Community Professional, Adobe Education Leader, and wider Flash Platform and mobile development communities!!!

Lastly, special thanks to my wife Leslie Labrecque for putting up with me and these many varied projects… ;)

Please spread the word, buy the book, and drop me a note if it was useful!

Flash Development for Android Cookbook: RAW

AIR, Mobile, Writing, , ,

My book just became available for preorder over at the Packt Publishing website. Not only can you preorder “Flash Development for Android Cookbook“, but it is also being included in the RAW program. This means that even though the book is not yet finished (still in draft stage, really) you can preorder the eBook or the print book and access the draft chapters online before the book is truly published!

For those wondering about the content, whether it leans more toward Flex or pure ActionScript; while there is a bit of Flex sprinkled throughout a few of the chapters, the code examples are almost always written in nothing but pure AS3 to allow anyone using any framework and toolset to implement the recipes easily. Full AS3 class downloads will be available through the Packt website.

As for the current status of the book, I’m putting the finishing touches on my Chapter 10 draft in the next few days. After that, one chapter left to write. The book is currently being tech reviewed and I’ll have to make more modifications based on that and other feedback.

See- it really is RAW right now! I’m not even sure if the publisher has properly typeset the chapters that are available.

So please spread the word, and place a preorder :)

UPDATE: I’ve heard that even though the publish date is marked as September, this was an original projection and the true print date is more likely May or June.