Peter Armstrong

Hello! Flex 4 launched to some glowing reviews!

First of all, however, the free stuff…

Session #14, one of my favorite workshop sessions from Hello! Flex 4, is reprinted in full in the following Adobe DevNet article:

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/articles/flex4_graphics_game.html

You can also read chapter 1 and chapter 3 for free at:

http://manning.com/armstrong3/

Now for the reviews.  Hello! Flex 4 has also been getting excellent reviews:

First, Ryan Stewart’s blog:

“Peter Armstrong is a gung-ho kind of guy. He has the very first book on Flex 4, Hello! Flex 4 and it’s currently available on Amazon. I got a PDF copy of the book and it is a really fun way to get up to speed on Flex 4. A ton has changed including the component model, how we do states, a new graphic language called FXG, as well as other tweaks and optimizations. This book goes through them all and provides a great overview of how to use Flex 4 with existing projects and frameworks . . . Well worth it for anyone who wants to see what’s coming in Flex 4.”

- from http://blog.digitalbackcountry.com/2009/12/the-first-book-on-flex-4-hello-flex-4/

Second, from the Amazon reviews page:

“If you’ve been thinking about Flex, or know someone who wants to get a basic understanding in a very short amount of time you’ll want to check out Hello Flex 4 by Peter Armstrong.

This short 234 paged book is an action packed light hearted casual read for programmers who are curious about Flex but may not be at the point where they want to invest a ton of time until they get a general understanding of how it works and if it’s a right match for them.

The tone of the book is laid back, and Peter doesn’t bore you with exhaustive detail, while at the same time there are small cartoons to keep it fun. Structure wise the approach uses sessions/labs to demonstrate concepts, and these sessions provide real working code. As each session progresses it builds upon the last - leading up to a full blown application.

So the examples are small and easy to understand, while at the same time being practical that you could then apply for you own purposes. In the very last chapter he’s a bit gutsy by incorporating the Cairngorm MVC framework as part of the lab… Cairngorm is a pretty heavy duty topic, so my reaction was would using it in a introductory book be good idea?

Well, if you really wanted to get an honest quick feel if Flex is right for you, you might as well get a taste of what a framework driven Flex application would look like. To my surprise though, Peter pulls it off, and makes Cairngorm digestible (especially considering the reader may not have any prior Flex/ActionScript exposure) by keeping it simple, to the point, and clear about what it’s role is in a Flex application.

So overall, for a quick read and low price, this is a great way to jumpstart your Flex skills.”

- Tariq Ahmed, Author of Flex 3 in Action and Flex 4 in Action in an Amazon.com review

Also, the Manning page has for Hello! Flex 4 has many other great quotes people (not me!) have said about it, including:

“Friendly and fun.”

“Armstrong again creates a must-have guide for Flex development.”

…and my favorite…

“The most fun technical book I have ever read!”