The author Colin Moock is a name known to almost every ActionScript programmer. I haven't read his other book(s) -- "ActionScript for Flash MX: The Definitive Guide" -- which seems to be more about interacting with Flash objects and is next on my list. I have also browsed Moock.org quite a bit and early on it seemed like his site had a sample anytime you need to work around an issue with one of the many ActionScript quirks. So sometimes a book is worth its price just for insight into an author and respected member of the community.

"Essential ActionScript" goes well beyond that. The book is probably best for someone with either understanding of ActionScript (any of the earlier variations) or another object oriented programming (OOP) language and is trying to make the transition to Flash. I think the real strength of the book are best practices discussed and demonstrated. On the other hand, I think I was ready for a ten page summary of the differences between AS 1.0. Sometimes Moock likes to write.

I haven't read his chapters on Design Patterns yet because it seems the wrong book to talk about them. Sometimes "Essential ActionScript" felt like an introduction to OOP also. Great for the technical artist moving from AS 1.0 but unnecessary for me. I will get to it sometime -- but I feel like I have a couple of projects to conquer first.

Another potential problem with the book is that it was written before the Flash 8 update in October 2005 and so a couple of the best practices have changed. Overall though, I'm happy I added this book to my ActionScript library. On the other hand, the same information could probably be presented in a faster manner. Remind me to start writing the book "From C++ to AS 2.0".