Delphi Books
Thomas J. Theobald (Borland/Inprise)
see from various publishers on the tools produced by our RAD group (which
includes Delphi, BCB, and Kylix) - what topics, what level of competency,
etc.
Drop a note here and let me know -
T
--
Thomas J. Theobald
Product Manager - RAD Tools Group
Inprise Corporation
tthe...@borland.com
Brandon C. Smith
"drag 'n' drop" Delphi backgrounds:
Object Pascal fundementals going from procedural to objects in a way
that presents the true power of Delphi, and points out
the design comprimses of things like TForm. Needs to cover the
things found in Delphi in a Nutshell for someone who does not have a
programming background and then go on to show what RAD is and what OOP
is and what the difference is. How to think event and object oriented
rather than procedurally, but also how to think through a procedure
when that's what the event or object does. The Way of Delphi was a
good stab at the last part of this, but missed the mark around chapter
3 or 4, and didn't explain enough in the first chapters to be useful
to someone who didn't know Delphi or Object Pascal. Marcu Cantu's
text on the web is quite good, but not entertaining enough for my son.
If he'd been able to see Marcu during one of the Fun Side of Delphi
presentations, he'd probably read it with more interest.
Volume 2 would be components and how and why to build them, more of an
introduction so that someone who is asked to modify a custom component
can understand what they are reading.
For me, I'd like to see design patterns in object pascal, with each
one having several examples in the main kinds of environments --
components, stand alone apps, client-server, and n-tier.
I don't mind shelling out the bucks for the 1000+ page tomes, but
there is a certain lack of focus in these all encompasing volumes.
I'd like to see one of those 1000+ page tomes split in thirds (and all
on paper! ) In the first third is a comprehensive reference and
discussion of Object Pascal, interfaces, and everything up to but not
including TComponent in detail. The middle third should deal with all
the stuff inherited from TComponent, and how to create components,
dialogs, UI frameworks and such. The third part should deal with data
structures and storage and databases, application frameworks, business
objects, game or simulation systems and database stuff.
Brandon Smith
Dwight Muhlbeier
enough beginner and intermediate stuff available on the net. We need
something in depth that will show how to solve real world n-tier problems
using MIDAS.
Should include coverage of:
- distributed objects using CORBA and DCOM (including MTS).
- detailed explanations of Stateful and Stateless coding, when and how to
use.
- real world performance optimization techniques.
- multiple ClientDataset transaction control.
- complex relationships (ex: Master / Detail / Detail - all containing
multi-table joins)
- techniques to efficiently get this to the client
- methods to allow updates to all tables including joins
- MIDAS using a briefcase methodology for disconnected datasets
- creating your own providers, reasons for doing so, advantages, etc.
- passing non-dataset information between client and middle-tier (files,
objects, etc).
- exception handling. Passing meaninful exceptions from remote application
server to client.
etc., etc...
"Thomas J. Theobald (Borland/Inprise)" <tthe...@inprise.com> wrote in
message news:8vf6sn$d2...@bornews.inprise.com...
Daniel Tobar
like to
> see from various publishers on the tools produced by our RAD group
(which
ADO/Delphi - all levels, all topics, the more the better.
Christopher Latta
<8vf6sn$d2...@bornews.inprise.com>...
>I'm writing this to get a feel for what kinds of books you all would like
to
>see from various publishers on the tools produced by our RAD group (which
>etc.
More in-depth books at an expert level. I'd like to see a book on
Kylix/Delphi cross platform development and one on building n-tier solutions
using business objects, from theory to practice.
Christopher Latta http://www.ozemail.com.au/~clatta
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice,
but in practice there is a great deal of difference.
Karlheinz Spaeth
ADO/RDS - How to simulate MIDAS with ADO... :)
Delphi & Interbase
Delphi & Distributed Computing
Delphi Web Development
Bernhard Angerer
regards
bernhard
visit
www.delphi3000.com
"Karlheinz Spaeth" <cha...@staufen.net> wrote in message
news:8vf9mc$db...@bornews.inprise.com...
Dominique Willems
Complete Design Pattern reference
using Object Pascal's
classes and interfaces
Intermediate to Advanced levels.
2)
In-depth study of object-oriented software design
using OP's classes and interfaces
Advanced level.
Dom
Michael Fullerton
\(Borland/Inprise\)" <tthe...@inprise.com> wrote:
>I'm writing this to get a feel for what kinds of books you all would like to
>see from various publishers on the tools produced by our RAD group (which
>includes Delphi, BCB, and Kylix) - what topics, what level of competency,
>etc.
Delphi & CGI/ISAPI - intermediate/advanced
Writing Palm conduits in Delphi
___
The Delphi Compendium
http://www.cyber-matrix.com/delphi.htm
Dominique Willems
"Spotlight on the dark side"
or
From Microsoft's DLL hell to Borland's Package hell
Unravelling the mysteries of run-time, design-time, and question-time packages
Volumes 1 to 14
CvN
the intermediate skill level. I have not bought a delphi for years because
of this. I always end up just buying a book that was written for C++ and
convert the knowledge over.
Craig.
"Karlheinz Spaeth" <cha...@staufen.net> wrote in message
news:8vf9mc$db...@bornews.inprise.com...
Dmitry Streblechenko
want to compete with writers who target millions of VB and VC++ developers, and
anyway, how hard is copy'n'paste with a little syntax change? VB source code?
Change every "=" to ":=". C++? Paste the code and shrink it by 70%.
What we do need are books explaining what you guys already have in VCL. Am I the
only one to spend a week writing a piece of code just to discover a month later
that it was already implemented in VCL? If you don't want to document all the
VCL classes in a help file, that's fine, I'm willing to pay to whomever wants to
write a book about it; the problem is there is nobody to pay to.
Please, no basic stuff: if a chapter starts with an explanation of what a
property is, I'll skip the whole chapter even if there might be some cool stuff
in it.
Winshoes? Great!!! Do we have any books about it? Web development? CORBA? COM?
etc, etc, etc. Lets be honest: Delphi help files (just like MSDN) are good only
if you already know what you are looking for (if you are lucky to have that
class even mentioned in a help file), but there are no books that cover the
whole VCL area (whatever that happens to be - Win UI, Web, COM, etc) in a
consistent manner.
I am sure every VCL class was created for a good reason - the problem is an
average Delphi developer has no clue why. I am sure Borland developers would
hate me, but why dont you make every developer at Borland who creates a new
class or a function to document why it was created and what its best uses are? I
don't care about the details (I can always look them up later or peak at the
source code) - I want to know how it fits into a bigger picture.
A piece of advice: run some kind of a tool (???) on all VCL files; get a list of
all the classes; make sure there is at least one book for every Delphi release
that mentiones every class at least once in a context of a real world example.
Dmitry Streblechenko
http://www.dimastr.com/
OutlookSpy - Outlook, CDO
and MAPI Developer Tool
Barry Mossman
That is, books that go into some depth about a specific aspect of
programming with Delphi.
My first pick would be:
Programming for the Web with Delphi
I would also like to see a book targeted to competent programmers coming to
Delphi from a non-windows background (eg, mainframe, midrange, apple etc).
Even though you are a competent programmer it is hard to start a project in
a robust manner in the PC environment.
There are many facilities within Delphi; some are recommended, some are just
there to have compatibility with early Pascal. It is hard to tell them apart
at first. An experienced programmer will know what the issues are, but it is
still hard to find the answers ... The focus of the book should be how to
write projects that are robust, accommodating of change, set up so that
others can easily take the project over. Topics like:
* Business related OO theory & techniques (no TAnimal, TDog) , especially
from a Delphi perspective
* how/when to make components, frames etc
* interfaces vs the reference model
* how to best handle exceptions
* effective debugging
* user interface issues in windows
* how to build in plug-in capabilities
* a robust object naming scheme
* development & operational directory structure issues
* deployment issues
Barry Mossman
Barry Mossman
Sakis Metallidis
2) Experts
3) Open Tools API
Greetings
Sakis Metallidis
ZEUS Software Engineering
eMail: sakis.me...@zeussoft.com
"Thomas J. Theobald (Borland/Inprise)" <tthe...@inprise.com> wrote in
message news:8vf6sn$d2...@bornews.inprise.com...
> I'm writing this to get a feel for what kinds of books you all would like
to
> see from various publishers on the tools produced by our RAD group (which
> includes Delphi, BCB, and Kylix) - what topics, what level of competency,
> etc.
>
Phil (Team JEDI)
Hi,
> I'm writing this to get a feel for what kinds of books you all would like
to
> see from various publishers on the tools produced by our RAD group (which
> includes Delphi, BCB, and Kylix) - what topics, what level of competency,
Non-RAD Delphi - Vol 1
- RAD vs. OOP
- OOP Concepts
- Refractoring existing code (ala Refractoring)
Non-RAD Delphi - Vol 2
- The Delphi Object Model (ala in a Nutshell)
- Design Patterns
Non-RAD Delphi - Vol 3
- OO Frameworks
- Object Releational Mapping
- Example of a complete OO Delphi system
--
Cheers
Phil (Team JEDI)
www.delphi-jedi.org
Listening to... Marillion.com - Marillion
Patric Ionescu
have some knowledge of the Pascal language" :):)
I mean, a book that explains Pascal programming among with the Delphi VCL / CLX / whatever,
so it would be easy for a non-programmer or a programmer who doesn't know any Pascal
to learn.
Patric
Andy Syms
\(Borland/Inprise\)" <tthe...@inprise.com> wrote:
>I'm writing this to get a feel for what kinds of books you all would like to
>see from various publishers on the tools produced by our RAD group (which
>includes Delphi, BCB, and Kylix) - what topics, what level of competency,
VCL Reference - probably along the lines of Delphi in a Nutshell
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>
>> Andy Syms Technosoft Systems Ltd
>>
>> email : as...@technosoft.co.uk
>> website : www.technosoft.co.uk
>>
>> tel : +44 (0) 1483 799554 fax : +44 (0) 1483 799664
>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Bruce J Clark
- OO Frameworks
- Object Releational Mapping
- Example of a complete OO Delphi system <<
Cheers,
Bruce J Clark
[Aberdeen, Scotland]
Deborah Pate (TeamB)
what kinds of books you all would like
>>
Delphi and Interbase.
--
Deborah Pate (TeamB) http://delphi-jedi.org
Use Borland servers; TeamB don't see posts via ISPs
http://www.borland.com/newsgroups/genl_faqs.html
Gaddi
2) Interface based programming re-examined.
3) Utilizing latest MS-XXX+ technologies using Delphi. (ASP+/COM+/ADO+/Biz etc.)
Gaddi
pnichols
might help us make Delphi or BCB an option in many of our business cases.
"Christopher Latta" <cla...@colateral.com.au> wrote in message
news:3a1b24d6_1@dnews...
pnichols
Especially with the Apache integration coming in Kylix. These books would
be great sellers in the Linux world I believe.
"Michael Fullerton" <cma...@spam-killer-remove-home.com> wrote in message
news:3a1b40aa....@newsgroups.borland.com...
pnichols
I haven't seen a new version out in quite a while however." But then, I
haven't been looking.
Patric Ionescu" <pat...@dynasty.com> wrote in message
news:3A1B90A9...@dynasty.com...
Martin Waldenburg
most of the available books are for beginners,
often with stupid and useles examples, requiring
a data base to run, although they doesn't have
anything to do with data bases.
I'd like to see books on an advanced level.
Martin
"Thomas J. Theobald (Borland/Inprise)" schrieb:
Karlheinz Spaeth
Mark Vaughan
<8vf6sn$d2...@bornews.inprise.com>:
>I'm writing this to get a feel for what kinds of books you all would
>like to see from various publishers on the tools produced by our RAD
>group (which includes Delphi, BCB, and Kylix) - what topics, what level
>of competency, etc.
>
>Drop a note here and let me know -
>
Ray Konopka's "Developing Custom Delphi [n] Components",
updated for n = 6
Borland's Numerical Methods Toolbox, completely rewritten
as a textbook on object-oriented numerics, with Object Pascal
and C++ code
also what Dmitry Streblechenko said
--
Mark Vaughan
___________
Visit the Numerical Methods in Pascal web page at
http://www-rab.larc.nasa.gov/nmp/fNMPhome.htm
Rocco Barbaresco
We can't always ask to Dan Miser for help!!!!!!
Rocco Barbaresco:
Herrare Humanum Est,
Perseverare Ovest ....
(By Fichi D'India)
Kevin Gow
<Snipped a lot of good stuff.>
I agree with Brandon here. More detailed books for the "junior" programmer.
--
To reply to me directly, remove "Iam." and just use "KevGow" at "gmx.net".
Paul Mason
1) Client/Server/Multitier development.
2) ADO/COM/COM+/MTS
3) OOD/OOP in Delphi
4) Component development
5) OpenTools API
6) DirectX/Direct3D/game development
7) A compendium of short advanced topics like using the debugging api's,
shell, MAPI etc.
Paul
"Thomas J. Theobald (Borland/Inprise)" <tthe...@inprise.com> wrote in
message news:8vf6sn$d2...@bornews.inprise.com...
> I'm writing this to get a feel for what kinds of books you all would like
to
> see from various publishers on the tools produced by our RAD group (which
> includes Delphi, BCB, and Kylix) - what topics, what level of competency,
> etc.
>
> Drop a note here and let me know -
>
Ed Keeton
Petr Vones (Team JEDI)
- Open Tools API
- COM/DCOM/COM+ (including threading)
- Book covering advanced topics like shell, MAPI, TAPI, RAS, CDO ...
- DirectX and multimedia programming
--
Petr Vones (Team JEDI) - http://delphi-jedi.org
Brion L. Webster
> - Updated edition of Danny's Delphi Component Design book
Seconded. Hurry up and clone him so you can get a new book out and new
product!
-Brion
Rudy Velthuis (TeamB)
> Seconded. Hurry up and clone him so you can get a new book out and new
> product!
I think that would be unethical.
--
Rudy Velthuis (TeamB) http://delphi-jedi.org
Use Borland servers; Posts via ISPs are not seen by TeamB
http://www.borland.com/newsgroups/genl_faqs.html
http://www.borland.com/newsgroups/newsinfo.html
Joe Real
practical aspects of Object Oriented Programming over traditional drag and drop
programming. The examples should be practical, like for example, a simple POS
system, using the free InterBase as the backend DB. I HATE THE TRIVIAL SAMPLES
that discusses OOP and the sample is a calendar object that discusses inheriting
month, dates, leap year events when a simple Date function can do it. The OOP
technique should be discussed in the whole cycle of creating a product, from
design specification, planning, coding, testing, and then undergo several
modifications due to adjustment in specs (OOP technique here claims the greatest
benefits, but so far no books have shown me that it really is so), and code
maintenance after deployment and redeployment.
2) A book of practical sample projects, that can be modified and ready to run.
Another survey should be done as to what sample projects should be included.
3) A book discussing the different optimization approaches, discusses the best
practices in terms of memory and speed (for example about strings, memory
streams, file streams, searching, etc).
4) Delphi book for VB programmers.
Brion L. Webster
> Brion L. Webster wrote...
>
> > Seconded. Hurry up and clone him so you can get a new book out and new
> > product!
>
> I think that would be unethical.
> --
and auditory sensors, and splice out the need for sleep. Of course, with
only one torso, he may not qualify for double salary, and he'd look funny
walking down the street...
All of this is decidedly tongue in cheek, Danny's an amazing person.
-Brion
Darn it Jim, we're scientists, not philosophers!
David R. Robinson
the books are general overview and don't got into much depth. Danny
Thorpe's book is one of the few advanced books on Delphi.
MIDAS - MIDAS documentation is VERY lacking. I always see posts of people
not having a clue on how to get started using MIDAS. All levels of books
are needed for MIDAS as there is very little documentation about MIDAS.
OO Programming using Delphi - Entry level & advanced books.
InterBase - all levels
David R.
Hilton
news:3a1baa4c_1@dnews...
> Delphi for Dummies does a pretty good job of this currently don't you
think?
>
> I haven't seen a new version out in quite a while however." But then, I
> haven't been looking.
Maybe that's because the last version was for Delphi 1. <sarcasm> I
doubt
it would cover variable arrays, procedure/function overloading or
interfaces.</sarcasm>
--
Hilton Evans --
----------------------------------------------------------------
Chemical Structure Drawing,
Molecular Mechanics for Windows,
C-13 NMR Shift Prediction for Windows,
http://home.ici.net/~hfevans/chempen.htm
Buch
online community everything I need.
Perhaps it has something to do with overall economic situation in my country
(Croatia), but I doubt I would buy a Delphi book even if I was H2B-ing in
US.
I buy lot of SF, so if your team write a SF novel, I would buy it. :)
Bob Longoria
<ph...@shrimpton.co.uk> wrote:
>"Thomas J. Theobald (Borland/Inprise)" ....
>
>Hi,
>
>> I'm writing this to get a feel for what kinds of books you all would like
>to
>> see from various publishers on the tools produced by our RAD group (which
>> includes Delphi, BCB, and Kylix) - what topics, what level of competency,
>
>Non-RAD Delphi - Vol 1
> - RAD vs. OOP
> - OOP Concepts
> - Refractoring existing code (ala Refractoring)
>Non-RAD Delphi - Vol 2
> - The Delphi Object Model (ala in a Nutshell)
> - Design Patterns
>
>Non-RAD Delphi - Vol 3
> - OO Frameworks
> - Object Releational Mapping
> - Example of a complete OO Delphi system
>
>
>--
>Cheers
>
>Phil (Team JEDI)
>www.delphi-jedi.org
>
>Listening to... Marillion.com - Marillion
>
>
I agree. I have seen very few books that really get into developing
software in Delphi that adequately addresses Object Oriented
programming. I would love to see books that follow the format above.
Bob Longoria
Bob Longoria
<ph...@shrimpton.co.uk> wrote:
>"Thomas J. Theobald (Borland/Inprise)" ....
>
>Hi,
>
>> I'm writing this to get a feel for what kinds of books you all would like
>to
>> see from various publishers on the tools produced by our RAD group (which
>> includes Delphi, BCB, and Kylix) - what topics, what level of competency,
>
>Non-RAD Delphi - Vol 1
> - RAD vs. OOP
> - OOP Concepts
> - Refractoring existing code (ala Refractoring)
>Non-RAD Delphi - Vol 2
> - The Delphi Object Model (ala in a Nutshell)
> - Design Patterns
>
>Non-RAD Delphi - Vol 3
> - OO Frameworks
> - Object Releational Mapping
> - Example of a complete OO Delphi system
>
>
>--
>Cheers
>
>Phil (Team JEDI)
>www.delphi-jedi.org
>
>Listening to... Marillion.com - Marillion
>
>
I guess having said what I did in my last e-mail, I wondered about the
results of this question. It is a great question to ask, but seeing
the small amount of books on bookstore shelves, where is this question
going???
Bob Longoria
Janet De Lu
>VCL classes in a help file, that's fine,
>I'm willing to pay to whomever wants to
>write a book about it;
What VCL classes are you referring to? We do strive for completeness.
The only gaps I know about are the wrappers for the Microsoft
Office COM servers, and the Open Tools API. If there are other gaps,
please let me know.
Janet De Lu
Delphi Documentation
Mark Haliday
Delphi for Dummies
Teach Yourself Delphi in 24 Hours
type of books. For me, something along the lines of:
Delphi/ADO (only one book out on this topic)
Delphi/DirectX (only one modern book out on this)
Professional Delphi
Delphi Web Programming (I think one like this is coming already)
Delphi COM (Only one in depth book out on this topic)
Thanks.
"Thomas J. Theobald (Borland/Inprise)" <tthe...@inprise.com> wrote in
message news:8vf6sn$d2...@bornews.inprise.com...
> I'm writing this to get a feel for what kinds of books you all would like
to
> see from various publishers on the tools produced by our RAD group (which
> includes Delphi, BCB, and Kylix) - what topics, what level of competency,
Dmitry Streblechenko
AllocateHWnd()/DeallocateHWnd()
TParser
TDockZone
TDockTree
THTTPServer
TEventDispatch
TDataPacketWriter
TServerAcceptThread
TSocketForm
TDataDispatch
TTransportThread
TSocketTransport
TEventLogger
TCopyParser
TXMLDataSet
TXMLDataSetParent
TXMLDataParent
TXMLDisplay
TXMLDisplayParent
TMidasPageElements
TScriptManager
TNameContentScriptObject
TScriptObjectContainer
TIncludeFile
TFunction/TFunctions
TVar/TVars
TScriptBlock/ TScriptBlocks
THTMLBlock/THTMLBlocks
TXMLDocument/TXMLDocuments
Dmitry Streblechenko
http://www.dimastr.com/
OutlookSpy - Outlook, CDO
and MAPI Developer Tool
"Janet De Lu" <jd...@inprise.com> wrote in message
news:3A1C5FE7...@inprise.com...
Robert Cerny
>Also:
>
>"Spotlight on the dark side"
>or
>From Microsoft's DLL hell to Borland's Package hell
>Unravelling the mysteries of run-time, design-time, and question-time
packages
>Volumes 1 to 14
>
LOL. Well, once you figure out the tricks and quirks, you see that it's not
bad at all (or at least not that much as in the middle). Except ITE.
--
----------------------
Regards
Robert Cerny
Remove both qwe when replying
email: robert.q...@neosys.xrs.qwe.si
No questions via email, unless explicitly invited.
Robert Cerny
material. For now. Actually so much that new users usually get confused.
What's missing are books on upcoming features of kylix/Delphi 6, CLX,
Win<-->Linux crossplatform quirks, etc.
For advanced users there's no possible definite solution. One could for
example write 5000 pages of books about COM/DCOM or Web, still not cover
everything or not enough in-depth. In advanced area there's a lot of
specialization, so I think general recommendations are not possible.
Speaking of myself, I learned more from demo programs that come with Delphi,
than from all books and conference together.
So, focus more on demos and promoting demos - inviting the (new) users to
look at them and learn from them. If the user gets hooked, he'll know what
books to search for as he will know the questions, knowledge/interest
quidelines, etc.
--
----------------------
Regards
Robert Cerny
Remove both qwe when replying
email: robert.q...@neosys.xrs.qwe.si
No questions via email, unless explicitly invited.
Thomas J. Theobald (Borland/Inprise) wrote in message
<8vf6sn$d2...@bornews.inprise.com>...
Mauricio Longo
however, I must admit that it is very shallow. Specially regarding the use
of simple "classes" such as TStrings, TStringList, TStream, etc.
I've been considering for some time the possibility of reworking my books on
Delphi for free publication through the Internet. I haven't really started
because it is a lot of work (I have over 1000 pages writen on Delphi 4 and
over 800 on Delphi 3) to adapt everything to the latest version and to
translate it to English.
I've refrained from starting, specially since once you start doing something
for free people tend to think that it is your "obligation" to continue doing
it at their convinience.
"Janet De Lu" <jd...@inprise.com> wrote in message
news:3A1C5FE7...@inprise.com...
> >If you don't want to document all the
> >VCL classes in a help file, that's fine,
> >I'm willing to pay to whomever wants to
> >write a book about it;
>
Marc Scheuner
\(Borland/Inprise\)" <tthe...@inprise.com> wrote:
>see from various publishers on the tools produced by our RAD group (which
>includes Delphi, BCB, and Kylix) - what topics, what level of competency,
First of all, there ought to be a really good beginner's book, one
that gives non-programmers a real path to become masters in Delphi and
using Object Pascal and its OOP features. Maybe more than one volume?
Getting up and running in Delphi, understanding OOP etc.
But we also need more really advanced, really well written books, on
things like:
- component creation, esp. in a crossplatform world
- database programming / client/server programming / n-tier
- advanced OOP, design patterns and implementations, business objects
and BO frameworks
- web programming / web integration
Just my $0.02
Marc
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marc Scheuner Software Engineer
FastLane Technologies Inc. Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Email: msch...@fastlane.com http://www.fastlane.com
Mauricio Longo
all.
In my previous post I make different case. There are classes that are
extensivly used through out the VCL, but their documentation does not
receive special attention. (Something to call people's attention to what you
can do with them and how.)
I've seen countless people who hadn't the faintest idea about the existence
of the Names and Values properties of a TStrings descendant and what you
could do with them. Come to think about it, I gues it took me 1 or 2
releases of Delphi to notice these properties.
Mauricio Longo
Danilo Cuculic
>>"Spotlight on the dark side"
>>or
>>From Microsoft's DLL hell to Borland's Package hell
>>Unravelling the mysteries of run-time, design-time, and question-time
>>packages Volumes 1 to 14
>
>LOL. Well, once you figure out the tricks and quirks, you see that it's not
>bad at all (or at least not that much as in the middle). Except ITE.
You all forgot the fabulous PCE: "Volume 14 - Packaging the BPL Hell for
Your Convenience".
---
Danilo Cuculic
Uffe Kousgaard
tools. In "Delphi COM Programming" there is a lot of examples (great book by
the way), but they are all 100% delphi. I took me a lot of time actually to
get the OLE servers working together with ASP, which was my primary focus.
So: Make sure more examples are included, which makes it faster to start
using Delphi in mixed environments. The world isn't 100% delphi yet, but it
will come one day !
When enough people have answered your question, couldn't you setup some kind
of poll on borland homepage, because I can say "Ditto" to many of the other
suggestions, I just don't want to repeat them here.
Thanks
Mark Richter
The two most common forms of questions I get regarding Delphi involve
understanding the program flow, and which VCL APIs to use.
To that end, it would seem that a fundamental book on Delphi would be in
order. As part of this book, one chapter might cover issues like how Delphi
initializes itself, including the "hidden" startup code associated with each
module / form, etc. (including specifics of what constitutes startup code).
The following chapter might discuss how to adjust the startup process,
including deferring form creation. Part of this ought to discuss how to add
custom initialization and finalization code to any module.
Some chapter needs to discuss program flow, from the point where normal
application developers would attempt to work. This might briefly discuss
non-form based applications where control remains in the code in the .DPR
unless specifically passed out. Otherwise, focus would be on issues such as
form creation and other "user" events which initiate subprocesses throughout
the life cycle of the application.
The fundamentals should also cover issues like ensuring valid object
instances before attempting to use them, exception handling, silent
exceptions (those that do not cause an application to visibly diplay
anything if they are not caught).
The fundamentals book could either include, or have an associated OOP primer
for people not familiar with OOP at all. This part could build foundational
concepts like inheritence, aggregation, composition, the use of interfaces,
etc as they apply to Delphi. Also, a discussion regarding the Delphi object
model is in order. Issues like static methods vs instance methods,
properties only at the instance level, and no class variables (unless any of
these are changed in the upcoming version) should be discussed.
The idea behind the fundamental material would be that people with no
knowledge could begin to use Delphi with enough understanding to ask "the
intelligent questions". The work would begin at a basic level, and would
build to the point that the reader had a decent grasp of OOP and its
application in the form of Delphi. Some of the material would be considered
intermediate or even advanced, but would be fundamental to a solid
understanding of Delphi.
To cover the second question, a book which discusses the VCL API from a
business developer's point of view, not a component developer, would seem in
order. To that end, a discussion of the API as it ships, and how to use it
effectively (not the techie point of view) would seem in order. This could
be organized into the visual components and non-visual, since often the
thought process is either one or the other at any time.
Somewhere, a discussion about how application developers would use
inheritence, composition, aggregation, and interfaces would seem appropriate
(building on the fundamental discussion of what these are). Note that since
people familiar with another language like Java have no concept of an
interface as implementing reference counting, some brief discussion about
why all Delphi interfaces require "those four" methods would be in order,
and what to do with them if they aren't needed. When inheritence is
discussed, a section could describe the foundational Delphi classes that
application developers should know about to create their own encapsulations.
The idea here is to provide the "business" developer with the tools they
need to build solutions with Delphi, not tools for the Delphi extender, such
as a tool or component builder. This material has to help both IT
professionals and "advanced analysts" use Delphi to solve their business
problems.
I hesitate to suggest that a simple application be developed as a theme
through the book since many of the books that I've read that use this
approach have failed to satifactorily present the essence. Some work well.
The objective is to provide enough material that the developer can
understand Delphi enough to use it to implement their business model. The
recommended use of exceptions, how to anticipate and gracefully handle
"rogue" exceptions from lower level routines. How to build modular APIs
that surface the business modules. Proper code factoring techniques and
recommendations. Source examples of each, and examples of modules interact
would be useful. Anywhere a specific technique is discusses, the code
example should be complete enough to demonstrate both the essence and the
side effects, if any.
So far, both of these suggested works (or groups) focus around theory as
their foundation with specific application using Delphi. If a reader were
to follow both works, they should be able to develop the knowledge needed to
use Delphi as an effective OOP tool, and to use Delphi as an effective
business solution.
Mark Richter
eMCee Software
Robert Cerny
>"Robert Cerny" <robert.q...@neosys.xrs.qwe.si> wrote in message
>news:8vhq2c...@neosys.xrs.si...
>
>[...]
>
>> Speaking of myself, I learned more from demo programs that come with
>Delphi,
>> than from all books and conference together.
>
>
Sometimes, if I do it unintentionally. But if you think that was cryptic,
try to listen/read lawyers' speeches. :)
Rudy Velthuis (TeamB)
> Sometimes, if I do it unintentionally. But if you think that was cryptic,
> try to listen/read lawyers' speeches. :)
Pffft. Tryin to write them is the hardest.
But, to my defense: IANAL, IAAD.
Rudy Velthuis (TeamB)
> > But, to my defense: IANAL, IAAD.
>
> OK, people, how many rude words do we know that start with 'D'?
You could consider "dentist" a rude word <g>.
DRS
news:8vhq2c...@neosys.xrs.si...
[...]
> Speaking of myself, I learned more from demo programs that come with
Delphi,
> than from all books and conference together.
You're good at cryptic crosswords too, aren't you.
--
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
DRS
news:8vjm9e$12...@bornews.inprise.com...
[...]
> But, to my defense: IANAL, IAAD.
OK, people, how many rude words do we know that start with 'D'?
--
Joe Licata
There is too little out there for such an important tool!!!!
Joe Licata
"Dwight Muhlbeier" <dwight.m...@home.com> wrote in message
news:3a1b6935_1@dnews...
> In depth coverage of MIDAS. Should be at an advanced level. There is
> enough beginner and intermediate stuff available on the net. We need
> something in depth that will show how to solve real world n-tier problems
> using MIDAS.
>
> Should include coverage of:
> - distributed objects using CORBA and DCOM (including MTS).
> - detailed explanations of Stateful and Stateless coding, when and how to
> use.
> - real world performance optimization techniques.
> - multiple ClientDataset transaction control.
> - complex relationships (ex: Master / Detail / Detail - all containing
> multi-table joins)
> - techniques to efficiently get this to the client
> - methods to allow updates to all tables including joins
> - MIDAS using a briefcase methodology for disconnected datasets
> - creating your own providers, reasons for doing so, advantages, etc.
> - passing non-dataset information between client and middle-tier (files,
> objects, etc).
> - exception handling. Passing meaninful exceptions from remote
application
> server to client.
> etc., etc...
>
>
> "Thomas J. Theobald (Borland/Inprise)" <tthe...@inprise.com> wrote in
> message news:8vf6sn$d2...@bornews.inprise.com...
> > I'm writing this to get a feel for what kinds of books you all would
like
> to
> > see from various publishers on the tools produced by our RAD group
(which
> > includes Delphi, BCB, and Kylix) - what topics, what level of
competency,
> > etc.
>
>
>
Rudy Velthuis (TeamB)
> Anything on MIDAS..
> There is too little out there for such an important tool!!!!
Joe, please don't quote an entire message just to add one sentence of
your own.
Please be so kind, and read
http://www.borland.com/newsgroups/netiquette.html . Thanks.
Janet De Lu
I will look into these and see how feasible it is to document them.
Some of the items on your list I recognize as deliberately
undocumented because they mostly just provide the implementation
for another class (for example TDockZone) or they are part of Delphi's
user interface (for example TSocketForm) or too special-purpose
(such as TParser, which is for .dfm files only). Some
would be nice to add, but are fairly esoteric and so involved that
we can't realistically commit the resources when so few people will
actually use them (TDataPacketWriter, TScriptManager).
Some I have added (TDockTree, AllocateHWnd, TXMLDataSet,..). I wish
we could do more, but it will have to wait until we have more
resources. The documentation team has suffered a lot of attrition
lately (due to death, illness, and to people moving on).
We are getting replacements, but it takes a while for
new people to come up to speed, and meanwhile there are all
the new features to document.
Mark J. Wallin, Ph.D.
development, and I probably have looked through every Delphi book in print. The
coverage of databases is heavily SQL and Client/Server oriented, which is
understandable, but many of us still need to develop applications for desktop
type databases, especially Dbase files, and there is no one comprehensive source
that teaches you the nitty gritty. Even the Client/Server coverage is
inadequate. Most books use only the most trivial examples and leave out most of
the important details that have taken me two years to master through a great
deal of trial an error. The information is out there, scattered through
hundreds of magazine articles, FAQs, and newsgroup messages.