Macromedia Flash powers most of the animation on the web, and it is undoubtedly one of the most successful (if not the most successful) add-ons to the Internet browser. Without Flash, one can't watch the latest Homestar Runner cartoon, and who could live without that? But Flash is far more that a "mere" animation program: it can be used for everything from animation to navigation to development of entire web-based applications (or games). As the program as matured, it has added layers of scripting capability so that developers and designers can expand and tinker with their projects in almost any way imaginable.

Flash Hacks isn't designed as a "learn Macromedia Flash in 30 minutes" type of book. Instead, it presumes some level of experience with the program, and offers 100 "industrial strength" tips and techniques to leverage the program in various creative ways. As it says in the forward:

It's no surprise that Flash is pervasively flexible, a veritable hacker's playground. In fact, Flash's "hackability" is arguably the key to its success. Here< i'm using the word "hack" to mean "a creative exploration, using any means possible (even ugly) that leads to some desirable (even exhilarating) result." Flash grew from a humble animation toy to the expansive "Rich Internet Application" tool it is today, largely in response to the hacks introduced by the development community.

That said, Flash Hacks isn't just for advanced Flash users; the book has a number of hacks that can be used by those whose knowledge of the program is still developing. Some of the hacks are for developers, and others are for designers, and it isn't likely that any single reader will use all 100 hacks, no matter how "zany" the tricks are.

Still, when I was actively practicing law and required to attend continuing legal education courses, I had one general principle: if in any course I could learn just one thing, then it was worthwhile. I think that a similar principle is appropriate when assessing Flash Hacks because it isn't so much that I'm likely to use every aspect of the book as it is that so much of the book is likely to be helpful to anyone who really wants to make Flash fly.

The book is organized into twelve chapters, and author Sham Bhangal puts some of the more vividly interesting hacks up front: namely, visual and color effects, animation, and 3D techniques. Personally, I found some of the visual effects, such as simulating old film grain or "simulating" the movement of a tree, to be quite intriguing. The chapter on color hacks offers a number of interesting color techniques, including how to simulate sepia effects (something I was intrigued with for a project I'm working on, where I'd like to create exactly such an effect on an image of an empty road with some animated images and text). Admittedly, many of these effects require more than just Flash: they require that you start in an image editing program like Adobe Photoshop (I expect you could probably recreate the same base imagery in a less expensive product like Paint Shop Pro, but Photoshop is Bhangal's software of choice).