Introducing Starling

Starling is an ActionScript 3 2D framework developed on top of the Stage3D APIs (available on desktop in Flash Player 11 and Adobe AIR 3). Starling is mainly designed for game development, but could be used for many other use cases. Starling makes it possible to write fast GPU accelerated applications without having to touch the low-level Stage3D APIs. Most Flash developers want to be able to leverage GPU acceleration (through Stage3D) without the need to write such higher-level frameworks and dig into the low-level Stage3D APIs. Starling is completely designed after the Flash Player APIs and abstracts the complexity of Stage3D (Molehill) and allows easy and intuitive programming for everyone. Obviously Starling is for ActionScript 3 developers, especially those involved in 2D game development; of course you will need to have a basic understanding of ActionScript 3. By its design (lightweight, flexible and simple), Starling can be used also be used for other use cases like UI programming. That said, everything is designed to be as intuitive as possible, so any Java™ or .Net™ developer will get the hang of it quickly as well.

Starling is an ActionScript 3 2D framework developed on top of the Stage3D APIs (available on desktop in Flash Player 11 and Adobe AIR 3). Starling is mainly designed for game development, but could be used for many other use cases. Starling makes it possible to write fast GPU accelerated applications without having to touch the low-level Stage3D APIs. Most Flash developers want to be able to leverage GPU acceleration (through Stage3D) without the need to write such higher-level frameworks and dig into the low-level Stage3D APIs. Starling is completely designed after the Flash Player APIs and abstracts the complexity of Stage3D (Molehill) and allows easy and intuitive programming for everyone. Obviously Starling is for ActionScript 3 developers, especially those involved in 2D game development; of course you will need to have a basic understanding of ActionScript 3. By its design (lightweight, flexible and simple), Starling can be used also be used for other use cases like UI programming. That said, everything is designed to be as intuitive as possible, so any Java™ or .Net™ developer will get the hang of it quickly as well.

This book contains a total of 22 exclusive interviews on the making of start-of-the-art mobile game engines for Apple and Android devices as well as the web. In this book you'll gain direct first-hand knowledge of how the mobile developer elite design, develop and deliver modern game engines while keeping abreast of the latest features offered by mobile devices. There is no abstracting or watering down of their experiences. You will read about what do, in their own words. The interviews were designed to collect wisdom from game engine developers around the problems of working with and maintaining off-the-shelf mobile game engines, and you will agree that this objective was far exceeded. You will get a snapshot into the thoughts and processes from a diverse and successful collection of mobile game engine developers from around the world. You will feel recharged and will be reinvigorated in your own game development efforts. The sage advice in these interviews will be useful in navigating, selecting and working with the tidal wave of promising mobile game engines available. Reading these interviews will help you find and best use the perfect engine for your mobile game and get it into the hands of an audience that loves it just as much as you.

A comprehensive illustrated guide to the Old World family of birds in the Helm Identification series. Starlings range from familiar species such as Common Starling and Common Myna, which are closely associated with people and have been introduced to many parts of the world, to little-known forest birds with a very restricted distribution. The family is centred on tropical Asia and tropical Africa, where two separate evolutionary radiations have occurred. This is the first monograph on the starling family, and summarises the current knowledge of all speices, with a comprehensive bibliography. Information from the avicultural literature is included since for some species nesting and other behaviour have never been observed in the field. Many starlings are highly social, some even nest in colonies, and cooperative breeding ('helpers at the nest') occurs in a number of African species highlights areas where information is lacking, particularly for those starlings whose existence is threatened by habitat destruction. The Indo-Malayan and Afro-tropical varieties are covered, along with the New World immigrants, and the text together with drawings, maps and photographs show aspects of bird behaviour, distribution and natural history.

On May 27th, 1784, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart met a flirtatious little starling in a Viennese shop who sang an improvised version of the theme from his Piano Concerto no. 17 in G major. Sensing a kindred spirit in the plucky young bird, Mozart bought him and took him home to be a family pet. For three years, the starling lived with Mozart, influencing his work and serving as his companion, distraction, consolation, and muse. Two centuries later, starlings are reviled by even the most compassionate conservationists. A nonnative, invasive species, they invade sensitive habitats, outcompete local birds for nest sites and food, and decimate crops. A seasoned birder and naturalist, Lyanda Lynn Haupt is well versed in the difficult and often strained relationships these birds have with other species and the environment. But after rescuing a baby starling of her own, Haupt found herself enchanted by the same intelligence and playful spirit that had so charmed her favorite composer. In Mozart's Starling, Haupt explores the unlikely and remarkable bond between one of history's most cherished composers and one of earth's most common birds. The intertwined stories of Mozart's beloved pet and Haupt's own starling provide an unexpected window into human-animal friendships, music, the secret world of starlings, and the nature of creative inspiration. A blend of natural history, biography, and memoir, Mozart's Starling is a tour de force that awakens a surprising new awareness of our place in the world.

This book will present you with a full rundown of all the new features in the upcoming AIR 3.0 runtime. Along with each feature, if applicable, will be a demonstration of how to employ the new feature. There's also be a short introduction to AIR and a chapter dedicated to providing you with additional resources.

This book will present you with a full rundown of all the new features in the upcoming Flash Player 11 runtime. Along with each feature, if applicable, will be a demonstration of how to employ the new feature. There's also be a short introduction to Flash Player and a chapter dedicated to providing you with additional resources.