The flash team headed south this weekend for Adobe's ActionScript 3.0 From the Ground Up Tour event, led by Internationally renowned flash expert Colin Moock:
Neal:
The tour is tagged “from the ground up” for good reason, Colin did an excellent job of explaining what kind of changes occur in the code and the player itself with the new AS3 code base. A good chunk of the presentation was review for me of techniques/syntax that I had read about/already used, but it’s always inspiring to see how Colin approaches the tools available to flash developers and in my opinion, he’s the best in the industry at explaining actionscript in detail in a way that a regular Joe could understand. At the end of the day I learned a few new tricks and I’m inspired to push myself to the next level, try out some new software (Flex) and I’m just excited and feel very lucky to be a part of this industry!
Dru:
Personally, it was most valuable for me to pick up some tips and tricks as opposed to learning “here’s how programming works.” Watching Colin code, and explain the reasons why he’s coding the way he’s coding, was definitely the best part and got many wheels in my head turning. We’re going to reconvene as a team and discuss a few possible changes to our standard techniques and workflow. Adobe is definitely pushing Flex, and one thing we’re going to do is all give the Flex Builder 3 beta a trial run as our ActionScript coding tool, which is what Colin was doing — it has never occurred to us that we could use it for that purpose without building a whole Flex project. So, this might be our entry ticket to the world of Flex. Aside from the abundance of ActionScript knowledge floating around the room, it was great to also talk with Lee Brimelow, whom Neal and I had met at Flash Forward in Seattle in 2006. He talked to us as a team for several minutes and, if nothing else, it was pretty sweet to be able to talk personally to an Adobe employee. Plus, I got a free book for knowing a Paula Abdul song. It was awesome. And then, Colin thereafter knew me as “Pedro.”
Lucas:
Watching an expert do what they do is always exciting. Watching Colin Moock, one of the most talented Flash Developers out there, do what he does, was fascinating. He’s a very good speaker and took a lot of time to explain the theory behind why he makes certain decisions while building a project which had the four of us questioning some of our practices. We learned a lot while being entertained and would recommend any Flash developer go see Colin Moock if they ever have the opportunity. You won’t be sorry, even if you have to get up at four in the morning to fly out to see him. Larry and I hung out in San Francisco through Sunday. Larry got a new hoody with a unicorn molesting a sad panda, we found bunches of unique stores and ate some of the best food I’ve had in a while. Quite the weekend!
Larry:
Colin Moock is a fantastic teacher. I especially found the second half of the conference very helpful and inspiring. Once he had gotten past the basics of object-oriented programming and started delving more into the changes that AS3 brings, the veil was lifted for me, so-to-speak, as several concepts that I had been struggling with became not only clear but down-right uplifting. I too am a believer now and am ready to join the AS3 ministry! I now feel empowered to begin experimenting with the expanded developing environments (Flex, Air) and to put myself on a pathway that will soon have me writing real, stand-alone applications in AS3.
Neal:
The tour is tagged “from the ground up” for good reason, Colin did an excellent job of explaining what kind of changes occur in the code and the player itself with the new AS3 code base. A good chunk of the presentation was review for me of techniques/syntax that I had read about/already used, but it’s always inspiring to see how Colin approaches the tools available to flash developers and in my opinion, he’s the best in the industry at explaining actionscript in detail in a way that a regular Joe could understand. At the end of the day I learned a few new tricks and I’m inspired to push myself to the next level, try out some new software (Flex) and I’m just excited and feel very lucky to be a part of this industry!
Dru:
Personally, it was most valuable for me to pick up some tips and tricks as opposed to learning “here’s how programming works.” Watching Colin code, and explain the reasons why he’s coding the way he’s coding, was definitely the best part and got many wheels in my head turning. We’re going to reconvene as a team and discuss a few possible changes to our standard techniques and workflow. Adobe is definitely pushing Flex, and one thing we’re going to do is all give the Flex Builder 3 beta a trial run as our ActionScript coding tool, which is what Colin was doing — it has never occurred to us that we could use it for that purpose without building a whole Flex project. So, this might be our entry ticket to the world of Flex. Aside from the abundance of ActionScript knowledge floating around the room, it was great to also talk with Lee Brimelow, whom Neal and I had met at Flash Forward in Seattle in 2006. He talked to us as a team for several minutes and, if nothing else, it was pretty sweet to be able to talk personally to an Adobe employee. Plus, I got a free book for knowing a Paula Abdul song. It was awesome. And then, Colin thereafter knew me as “Pedro.”
Lucas:
Watching an expert do what they do is always exciting. Watching Colin Moock, one of the most talented Flash Developers out there, do what he does, was fascinating. He’s a very good speaker and took a lot of time to explain the theory behind why he makes certain decisions while building a project which had the four of us questioning some of our practices. We learned a lot while being entertained and would recommend any Flash developer go see Colin Moock if they ever have the opportunity. You won’t be sorry, even if you have to get up at four in the morning to fly out to see him. Larry and I hung out in San Francisco through Sunday. Larry got a new hoody with a unicorn molesting a sad panda, we found bunches of unique stores and ate some of the best food I’ve had in a while. Quite the weekend!
Larry:
Colin Moock is a fantastic teacher. I especially found the second half of the conference very helpful and inspiring. Once he had gotten past the basics of object-oriented programming and started delving more into the changes that AS3 brings, the veil was lifted for me, so-to-speak, as several concepts that I had been struggling with became not only clear but down-right uplifting. I too am a believer now and am ready to join the AS3 ministry! I now feel empowered to begin experimenting with the expanded developing environments (Flex, Air) and to put myself on a pathway that will soon have me writing real, stand-alone applications in AS3.
