a little moock goes a long way

I'm currently wading my way through Colin Moock's Actionscript 2.0 (O'Reilly). I say wading because I'm finding it particularly heavy going. I really want to read it all but I'm finding that I put the book out on the bench or a nearby table and say 'I'll just do x and then will sit down and tackle you again'... 'Let me finish y and I'll be with you'... 'Really - I'm nearly there'...

I had no problems with his earlier tome, Actionscript for Flash MX, which is a brilliant reference book that I use all the time, but this one is giving me the heebies. I am picking it up, but reluctantly.

It's very technical and has a consistent, annoying approach of 'About Foo: to understand Foo properly, you need to understand Bah. Bah is covered in chapter 999, but here is a section on Foo anyway'.

I'm willing to reserve final judgement till I get to the end (presuming I make it that far) but at the moment I feel really stupid. I mean, I've used Flash for a few years now and written some pretty funky Actionscript considering I've got no programming background at all, but I feel that the writing style is different in this one. It seems to be repetitive without necessarily adding clarity. And so far, up to about page 50, lacking in real world examples - there are examples but they are of the 'ball' type.

I'm not whinging, just sharing how I am feeling at this particular stage of the reading process. I truly want to conquer it. This is going to be my year of finishing all those books and teaching myself all those concepts I've been moaning about not knowing for so long, so it's time to wrap the ninja bandana round my head and strike a pose.

Wish me luck! Hai-ya!

Tags: Flash Actionscript 2.0 Moock