Flash Programming - Where to Begin?

[coracle]

I was wondering if someone who has programming experience could give me some
suggestions on how to get started in developing applications in Flash. I'm
interested in e-training modules integrating data from a SQL server, video and
gaming animation. I currently have Flash suite 8, but do not know where to
begin (scripting languages or objects). Any comments on direction and also
recommended training approaches would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,

[AwesomeDigital]

What do you want to do with it?

It's sort of like having a car. You should have a destination in mind. Pick
out some things you would like to build. Try to start SIMPLE to keep yourself
from getting frustrated.

Once you have a destination, pick out all of the roads and turns (tasks) that
you will need to get there. WRITE them down and start working on one SMALL
piece at a time until you get the results you want.

After you have taken a few dozen journeys, you will find yourself thinking of
shortcuts to get things done better.

Thinking about and writing down your trip before you even turn on the computer
will help develop your planning skills. Review what you wrote down when done
and note any things that you could have done better. Also, wandering around
without a plan will most likely end in an unfinished task. That I know from
experience,

Search google for "flash tutorials" to get some ideas on destinations and some
good tips on how to get there

Mathias

[citizenwp@gmail.com]

Thanks Mathias's advices.
It is useful for me too.



--Terry
"Sell a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach a man how to fish, you
ruin a
wonderful business opportunity." Karl Marx
[url]http://www.flash-on-tv.com/[/url]

[coracle]

I really appreciate you taking time to respond. I have three goals, tiered in
order of complexity.

1. Build professional looking websites with audio and video. I am already
doing this, but without action script. So that's probably my next step.

2. I want to learn to build training applications for our system using flash,
but also doing programming and using object oriented programming.

3. Lastly, I want to work with data integration with an SQL backend for
building a reporting dashboard.

My problem is, the I can't see the forest for the trees. Flash, scripting
languages and development languages have become so diverse, I don't know which
one to use. I'm also fearing that I need to go back to school for training,
but want to make sure that any training is consistent with a desire to develop
with the macromedia tools. What learing recommendations would you have?

Sorry to be so wordy, but I'm having a terrible time focusing and pulling the
trigger.


thanks in advance....