most flash books and resources seem to be targeted at artists, or atleast non-programmers, and actually because of that hard for those with a more programmatic mindset. Thus I'm looking for some good resources to train some entry level programmers to use flash well as programmers,not artists.
Any recommendations?
Take a look at adobe Air/Flex platform. Adobe says its for RIA's but there is nothing stopping you from developing normal flash applications.
In addition to flex you can program the ajax way with html and jquery
I've always admired Colin Moock's books and I can recommend Essential ActionScript 3.0 as an excellent introduction to the language and paradigms of programming for Flash. I've also heard good things about Advanced ActionScript 3 with Design Patterns although I haven't read it myself. I do recommend being familiar with design patterns.
Adobe have moved towards Flex now when it comes to Flash for developers, so I recommend also becoming familiar with that. There is a free Flex SDK you can download and begin playing with immediately. Check out the Flex Developer Center for a ton on useful information about learning Flex. The core language of Flex is AS3 so it is transferable to standard Flash development, but Flex also includes a huge component framework and library and an XML based layout format (MXML). Flex Builder is a developer targeted IDE for building and debugging Flex based applications (or websites). Remember: developing Flex is free, only the IDE costs money (but it is worth it for the debugger IMO).
I would highly recommend Advanced Actionscript 3 with Design Patterns. I've read it and found it to be one of the best programming books out there.
I agree that Colin Moock's books are excellent as well. I would recommend Essential Actionscript 2.0 (in addition to the 3.0 version). The 2.0 version ends up being a fantastic into to object oriented programming concepts for those that may not have much experience in that realm.