5 comments about Advanced Delphi Developer's Guide to ADO.

1. Absolutely dreadful!! This is probably the worst computer book I've ever bought. The authors must have been "on" something when they wrote it, and I can confidently say it'll be getting pulped by the publishers soon.

   Gives nothing the regular Borland documentation doesn't already cover. The code examples do not fill me with confidence that the authors actually understand Delphi programming basics either.

   You are better buying Understanding ADO from Microsoft press - I had to after reading this drivel.




2. Well, to begin with I'm don't understand why the book got so many bad reviews. While it may not an advanced text, it does cover the Delphi side of ADO very well. I have an almost complete Delphi reference library (haven't added the D6 stuff yet). I can absolutely say that this book covers more ADO than the other books I've bought (D6 Developer's Guide devotes 6 pages to the topic, D4 Unleashed devotes NO pages, and Mastering D5 devotes less than 10 pages).

   I don't think the bad reviewers did read the book at all. This book covers Delphi ADO use and not ADO technology basics. If you are looking for an "Inside ADO Nuts-And-Bolts" type of book, buy another book, like the Microsoft Press series since ADO is a Microsoft technology. But if you want to learn how to use the ADO Express component suite for Delphi, then this is the book for you. I've been doing Delphi for 6 years now and I am no novice, and I certainly found the book helpful.

   On a side note, I would add that while the grammar in the book may not be perfect (it definitely needed better proofing before press time), the Authors unquestionably know the material. It's worth an A+ in my opinion, and I am thankful to have gotten ahold of solid material for a change. I do find that using Newgroups isn't helpful since the people tend to rant and rave about things completed unrelated to the posted topics. This book delivers focused material, and it has practical examples that you can apply and test right away. A companion CD is included, which I find to be a nice touch.

   Great book, great topic, and useful information. The bottom line is try it for yourself. I did.




3. Based on the title of this Delphi and ADO book: Advanced Delphi Developer's Guide to ADO, I expected "only" coverage of ADOExpress in Delphi. However, that's only a part of this book. The book consists of 23 chapters, starting with the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC), OLE DB Providers, ADO and its role in the Delphi Database Architecture. ADOExpress components like TADOCOnnection, TADOCommand, TADODataSet etc. are covered in a lot of detail - as expected. However, apart from these "basics", the book also contains chapters that explain how to actually build ADO Applications, and how to do Business Graphics and Reporting with ADO. Even after those chapter, we're only still halfway the book.
   Further topics include OLAP and ADO, ADOX in Delphi, JRO Objects, and a very helpful chapter on deploying ADO applications. Chapter 19 and later introduce Distributed Computing; Windows DNA (Distributed interNet Applications), including RDS and MTS with ADO. There's even a chapter on MIDAS ADO Applications.
   There are also a number of appendices; and the most interesting one covers BDE to ADO migration issues!



4. I found this book disappointing; it lacks essential ADO error handling details. Never having used ADO before, I had to deliver an ADO delphi application in a thight schedule and unfortenately this book didn't help me much.



5. iF YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ADO THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU. Advanced Delphi Developer's Guide to ADO WELL WRITTEN GUIDE ON THE ADVANCED FEATURES OF ADO. YOU WON'T FIND THIS INFORMATION ANY WHERE ELSE.

5 comments about Delphi¿ 4 Bible.

1. I have examined very closely various books on delphi including Mastering Delphi by Cantu, Delphi developers handbook by texeira but nothing can come close to Tom Swans book.

   If you have never programmed in Delphi before, take my words and buy this book. You will not regret. However, if you are very well versed in Delphi than just get a subscription to Delphi magazine. The other books in my opinion are simply rehash of the delphi guides that accompany the software and you will hardly learn anything new. In fact you may end getting more confused.

   Being a brilliant programmer does not automatically mean that you can write a book!. Tom Swan has the art to convey the message.

   In summary, it is a well thought, cut and presented book on Delphi.




2. This book was a greatly dissapointing. If you're an expert at Delphi this book is not for you. If you're just starting out than you may find this book helpful. The manuals that come with Delphi provide more in depth information than this.



3. I am a Java programmer and have longed for the oportunity to create GUI applications. This is a fantastic alternative to BOTH Java and C++. This language will allow you the power and the ease of use to create anything you want. This book will guide you to it. It gives you everything you need to write programs period. When finished with the second chapter I was already creating useful things. A word of advice...judge not the actual programs that you are creating, but the invaluable tools that you are learning. Buy this book and keep it always for a quick reference



4. If you are a patient and systematic beginner in Delphi programming this book is suitable for you. If you are a skilled programmer and try to look for some special topic this book also is great for you. It looks a like that Tom Swan personally seated with you in front of your PC and telling you what to do with your program source, talking about a lot of hints and jokes and even when to stop for coffee break or lunch. Simply it is great.



5. If you are new to Delphi (like I am) and you need to get familiar with the Delphi environment, tools, and objects this book is for you. It is well written and provides code examples for everything. This is not a book on how to program in Pascal, but a book on the Delphi tools. The examples are applicable to more complex applications. Even if you are an advanced programmer this book will be a great reference.

No comments about Delphi 7: Guia Practica Para Usuarios.

5 comments about Delphi 4 Developer's Guide (Developer's Guide Series).

1. The authors did a great job on explaining the various topics. The only negative I had, some of chapters were not in print, only available on CDROM. Also, the authors did a great job answering any questions I might have about the book.



2. I found this book to cover subjects simply not found in other books. The text displays a solid understanding of design and implementation not only of Delphi and Object Pascal but solid programming techniques and program design. My only criticism of the book is that many of the code examples (while well explained) lead nowhere. Strong on developing and explaining the steps many of the examples show no actual use of the code you spend hours typing and reviewing afterwards. I would like to see this corrected in future books. Still, this is a solid text for intermediate and advanced developers.



3. Most Delphi book treat COM-Based Technologies lightly. This book doesn't. For advanced COM programming this book is a must. Not for beginners.



4. I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand it does provide a lot of material(ActiveX, OpenTools, MIDAS) that doesn't seem to be concentrated in any single book. On the other hand, the book is not well thought out, the writing is dreadful, and a good chunk of the material is rehashed from the book that comes with the product.

   If you want to buy just one Delphi book, and need to know about a lot of different topics, this *might* be the one for you. But don't use this book to learn Object Pascal. (Use the Delphi 5 help file and/or Ray Lischner's "Delphi in a Nutshell".) Don't rely on it for basic Win32 concepts. (There are many C-oriented books on this subject, and reading them with a Pascal eye is good practice.) Do buy this book if you want to explore a lot of different Delphi topics.

   A note on the text. Out of 37 chapters and appendixes, 13 are supplied only as PDF files on the CD/ROM! On the other hand, many, many source code examples (I haven't the heart to count them) that *should* have been on the CD/ROM only, are in the hard-copy text!




5. This book covers many very important areas of Delphi programming. Book starts with Main Window class, variables, arrays, etc., covering many Pascal basics, etc, then it covers some API, Messaging basics, DLLs and COM basics (extremely boring examples) on less the 100 pages, the ActiveX on les than only 70 pages, Database development basics again, very basics of Internet programming, and many other like this.

   I have to admit that book is written *nicely* and has attractive and easy explanations, which makes the reader understand everything. I wanted to point out that this book is excellent for a beginner who wants to know wide range of elementary of Delphi. It leaves you an impression that you are good and that you know the stuff now. Which is partially a true - you will perhaps understand all that is written - but that's not all, there is much more behind that.

   Therefore don't expect that you will find the real stuff, real tricks, and solutions to real problems. This is *not* a book that you'll need while working on a real project! - If you know all basics then you don't need this book - except you have forgotten some of them.

   I was developing some COMs, DLLs, and this book didn't help me at all. I also was reading articles in various Delphi magazines, some of them written by Steve, and there is always the same issue: all examples are just superficial (give you only a scheme how to construct the code). Everything works if you just copy an example, but the author leaves you at that point. No further explanations, no details on why is solution like that. If you go on developing, you will find yourself asking numerous questions: how to do this and that, why this crashes, why I got null in this callback, and many other serious questions. This is why I said that this is only a *basics* book. It leaves you an impression that you understood everything mentioned in chapter and that you know the stuff now - but you don't.

   Finally, 4 stars is for the certainly the *best* book that nicely introduces huge capabilities of Delphi (I have read many other books: Mastering Delphi, Unleashed, and similar books that cover all Delphi). *But*, if I had to rate how this book is useful for real life programming problems it would be *1 star* only. You will need to buy some other book for COM, WEB programming, etc., because, one more time, examples are too simple.

   Author leaves the web site and email to ask or to send comment about the book, but don't bother - Steve doesn't read that. At least the site seems to have some code fixes.

   I have seen other versions of this book for Delphi 5 and 6, some of things were fixed, but it is still written in the same manner.

5 comments about Delphi Graphics and Game Programming Exposed.

1. This book really helped me. Didn't you people read HOW TO INSTALL THE HEADERS?! All the samples work for me and I'm right now writing my first game as I go along. When the back cover says "intermediate to advanced" it means intermediate programmers
   NOT intermediate GAME programmers. I do wish it covered 2D in Direct3D though, because in DirectX 8.0 and up you MUST do things this way but nothing off as at print time DirectX 6-7 were current and many people still use 7.



2. I don't know what it is about this book but I liked it a lot.
   The book has a special vibe; it is casual but it leaves no detail out in what it's aimed at.
   Unlike other technical books where you would skip sections this book keeps you reading from begin to end.
   Sure it's not sophisticated, no 3D for instance.
   But it's great for example for people who're coming from Turbo Pascal like me and want to explore Delphi and games(using DirectX). So it is a good primer presented clear and understandable. And no no not beneath beginners.
   And great 2D games can be made with this book as a background.
   2D games still have their place in the entertainment world.
   I'm not saying that you should necessarily learn how to make 2D games to be able to make 3D games but it's an asset. You people shouldn't ignore the "gamemaking thinking" that comes with 2D game manufacturing. But as the author points out in the book if you really wanna make 'em big, you hafta have artists involved in your project.

   ps: if you notice that im from Belgium: I have the same edition and in English.




3. I too thought there would be a little 3D in this book, but I can understand why there isn't. 3D Game programming is absurdly complex. You need to get the basic concepts and feel of game programming down in 2D (well, it's a good idea anyway).

   Many complain about not finding the CD Key... it's on a card that sticks out like a sore thumb in the back of the book. Look a little harder.

   This book is not a comprehensive guide to game or direct x programming (or Delphi). However, what it can do is provide you with the means to jump right in and make a game. What I'm talking about is ready-made basic 2D game engine's that can be modified to do just about anything. The book gets you the basics on graphics, sound, sprites, controls (even force feedback), special effects and a bit more.

   I was introduced to this book by taking a graphics class in my 4th year of college. We barely used the book (because we only touched a little direct x at the end), but I spent the end of that winter break and much of the following months making a Tetris style puzzle game. If you can get the example programs to compile/run, you should be able to modify them to do your bidding.




4. This book is useless and stupid also for beginners.
   Please don't buy it



5. I recently bought this book and it is, as several reviewers say, out of date (not the author's fault although it would be nice if the publisher came out with an updated version). Several reviewers also, however, comment that the book is worthless because the Delphi 4 version does not come with the key. This is a problem. However, the authorization code is available on the publisher website (www.wordware.com). Of course, Borland has come out with several versions of Delphi since then but Delphi 4 is still a good compiler and a great way to start up with Delphi (especially if you aren't wanting to get into .NET right away).
   
   I'm pleased that I bought this book and am looking forward to experimenting with the code. As author Ayres points out, he's trying to equip us to write shareware games, not become professional game developers for slave-labor game shops.

5 comments about C++ Builder 6 Developers Guide with CDR (Wordware Delphi Developer's Library).

1. This book serves well both novices and experts by providing answers to technical questions such as simple "how to" s, as well as presenting useful pointers on rather complex concepts that make further research easier. The author does an excellent job of helping readers comprehend and appreciate the overwhelming features of C++ builder, by offering a step by step approach in explaining fundamentals as well as advanced concepts. This book explains in clear and simple terms why C++ builder is not just a compiler but a feature packed, fully integrated development environment, which is essential for developing high performing, user friendly applications. The chapter on C++ advanced concepts does a commendable job in jogging your C++ memory. The first part of the book covers in great depth how to use the set of tools provided by C++ builder to develop database applications with ease and effectiveness. The author presents in great detail how to take advantage of the features of C++ builder to develop simple, as well as advanced database applications. Part two provides the web developers using Borland technology an excellent source of information along with examples to understand the difference among verity of proprietary architectures currently available. Finally, an entire chapter on advanced topics is well justified and serves as a prelude to upcoming technology innovations. Quite simply, this book is a must have for all serious developers using Borland Technology.



2. Unlike many other books written on C++ related technologies, this book discusses all the new technologies supported by C++Builder, and fundamentals of desktop and database development with the same level of emphasis. With regard to database development all the three technologies supported by Borland, BDE, ADO and the new dbExpress are discussed at length. This book is as useful to a new C++Builder developer interested in learning C++Builder, as it is to an experienced developer who is interested only in advanced development concepts of the product. This is a notable feature of the book. In nut shell, new developers will be benefited by the whole book, while the advanced developers will be benefited by about two thirds of the book. In my opinion, the author is very smart in choosing the book's contents to make it useful for every kind of reader.



3. This is not the book to buy on the subject of C++ Builder 6. Save your money on this one and go with Borland's development guide on C++ Builder 6.



4. I am the author of this book, and I feel I should write a response to this review made by "A Reader" from NY,NY on March 10, 2003, which, in my opinion, is made without going through the book in detail, or even attempting to use the examples.

   This book is certainly not on the C++ language; however, it is written for C++Builder developers very carefully to bring out many features not documented in the manuals. Extensive set of example projects are created throughout the book making sure that these programs compile and execute well. Extensive editing has been done by me and the publisher to minimise the possibility of errors. The book is written to be useful for both newcomers and experienced professionals. Obviously every book will not satisfy every need of every individual; however, it does not mean the book is useless. Book reviews are really appreciable when they bring out both the strengths and weakneses of the book in DETAIL rather than just a simple sentence; then only reviews are useful to the potential buyers.

   In addition, the book is really handy, without compromising on the quality of contents, and one can carry it easily and read while in travel also, not like the bulky books which are difficult to carry.




5. Not having used C++Builder for several years, I was looking forward to reading this one to learn the new bits of v6, and pick up some pointers on BDE while getting there. The book was very frustrating to me. There are some people who can explain topics in an easy-to-follow fashion. The author of this book excels at making topics as complex as possible, using multisyllabic words whenever possible, and just generally trying to appear erudite. Opening the book at random, I came across this sample: "A web application module is typically a TWebAppPageModule object or a TWebAppDataModule object. The TWebAppPageModule component should be used if our application is to generate at least one web page; in other words, our application is of page module type. (p307)" I'm not planning on throwing it away, but it's not a book to keep by the computer. For many topics, I can get more useful information from Borland's on-line help.

   This book feels like a surface skim of BCB6, with the occasional deep dive with extremely specific examples. I should have figured that at a bit over a third the size of C++Builder 5: A Developers Guide, quite a bit would be missing, particularly with all the cool new components in BCB6. For example, under "Developing custom components", the author states that this is a topic that could occupy an entire book. He then gives two pages of notes and code fragments that did not help me at all. CB5:ADG above, on the other hand, has an entire chapter, 74 pages, and actually provides the information needed for the task. Why bother including this topic if the information is useless?

   I also have to admit, I found the fact that the author had to come here and respond to critics with five stars not only amusing, but worth taking one star away from my own review (which otherwise would have been three stars). This is by no means a five star book.

5 comments about Discover Delphi: Programming Principles Explained (International Computer Science Series).

1. I have two semesters of Turbo Pascal 7.0. In those two semesters I had limited exposure to Object Oriented Programming. This book is excellent if you have the basic programming skills (variables, constants, loops, program structure, etc.) and nothing else. I purchased Delphi 5 (Professional). This book and it's examples all work with this version. If you are a newbie (like me), inexperienced and unsure (like me), this is the book for you. It is definitely worth the money. The chapter quizzes and exercises require you to review and practice the things you learned throughout the chapter. It is not written in "technical terms". You will learn how to apply everything from an array to a record using delphi. If you have the desire to make professional looking windows applications with nothing but the basic programming skills, then buy this book.



2. I found this book to be very good in presenting Delphi in a understandable manner. Having a computer science background, I could grasp the concepts easily and never seem to get bored of the book. Even if you don't have a background in programming, I definitely recommend this book to start you off because its an easy read, and you will not have go through tons of concepts before reaching the code but instead, it'll present useful coded examples followed with important explainations on how/why its done.

   I got this book because I wanted to start off my Delphi adventure, and it delivered! Its also comforting to know that its not a thick book!! It gives you plenty of examples and teaches you what you REALLY need to know, using Object Pascal and the RAD components! Not only that, it gives you self-review and practice questions to work on after each chapter. So basically it cuts to the chase and tells you what you ought to learn rather than what you might find useful.

   As a conclusion, I recommend that you buy this book whatever your level of programming may be as it not only shows you how Delphi is used but also builds up your foundation on programming principles as shown in the book.




3. If you have never programmed in Turbo Pascal, than you should almost certainly get a copy of this book. It does indeed teach Delphi from grounds up and you will learn a great deal.

   If you are fully conversant with Pascal Syntax and structure, you might gain something reading through this book, but I do believe that you will gain more by reading through Tom Swan's book Delphi Bible followed by Charles Calvert Delphi Unleashed




4. it may be good for the novice, but as i already know 3 other languages i found it slow and missing alot of important information. It goes straight in with programing examples and doesnt provide a good foundation for understanding how delphi programs are structured. The tiny chapter on objects was very poor. Also they never explained how find the info on the components. I think the fact that delhpi is so easy to use may make this book seem better than it is. It is a bit like giving people instructions without ever helping them to undestand what they are doing. I expect beginers will like it because it avoids the in depth explanations and is more about trying out examples.

   If you are already a proficient programer then you will find this book far to long. It could be easily sumarised it into 50 pages and still contain all the info. If you want to learn about Object Orientated programing forget this book. The thing that most anoyed me was the fact that they had code snippets that were numbered as if from line 1 when the code was not from the start of the program. To the novice programer this could be very confusing. And they had snippets with no line numbering. Are they purposly trying to confuse people.




5. This book is for version 3. Borland has released version 8. Why isnt this book cheaper?
   A book on AutoCAD 12 would sell for $3.00.

2 comments about Nitty Gritty Delphi 6.

1. If I purchased this book in 1995 when Delphi came up I would be really satisfied. But when you have around "Developers guide" and "Mastering" books along with the list of other usefull ones, I consider that buying this book is just waste of your money.



2. If you're just starting in Delphi and want something to supplement your classes, or you're a seasoned professional who doesn't know how to do some things in Delphi (I found the section on programming DLLs very useful as I hadn't tried programming them in the past) this book will be an excellent choice.

1 comments about Developing With Delphi: Object-Oriented Techniques.

1. I thought this book would give revolutionary ideas on how to use object-oriented techniques to help my day-to-day programming life, but I was badly mistaken. There is only a few chapters on actual object-oriented programming but it does not use real world examples. The rest of the book is a badly written explanation of Delphi, which there are several other books which explain it much better.

3 comments about Borland Delphi How-To: The Definitive Delphi Problem Solver (How-to).

1. Once in a while you'll stumble across a gem of a book that you can't put down. This is it! If you ever get to a point in your program that you think you need to put some pizzazz in it, this book might be just what you're looking for.

   It has something for everyone. It's chaulked full of usefull tidbits that you can add to any application. I'll list a few entries from the table of contents so you know what I mean:
   "Size a form's control automatically"
   "Add search and replace to my editor"
   "Remember the sizes and locations of my forms"
   "Make the ENTER key act like the TAB key..."
   "Determine system resouces and display them"
   "Modify menus at run time"
   "Create a readme file viewer"
   "Fade one picture into another"
   "Play wave and midi files"
   "Make a customizable toolbar like Delphi's"
   

   It has 103 of these "How To's" do make your application really shine. Two or three of these features would pay for the book. That's like getting the other 100 for free!

   Even though this book is written for Delphi 1, the majority of these tricks will also work for Delphi 2. All of the sample code is on the CD-Rom so you can easily see it working before you install it into your application.

   If you want to spruce up your application, I definitely recommend this book. You'll also improve your Delphi techniques by learning how some of these "tricks" are performed. This book is a keeper. Don't leave the bookstore without it!




2. Once in a while you'll come across a book that you can't put down. Well, this is it. It doesn't matter if you're using Delphi 1 or Delphi 5, this book has enough tricks and how to's to pay for itself 10x over. It's well organized, concise, plenty of code snippets, and lots of working programs on the CD-Rom. If you want a fun read and like magical code, this How To book will put a smile on your face and add a shine to your programs!



3. Once you have been initialized into the world of Delphi, it is time to move on to the realm of developers. When that point is reached, there is no better source of educational exercises than this book. It is split into 123 different problems, each with statement, purpose, list of required GUI objects and properties; source code and complete explanation. Many of the exercises include Windows API calls, which are a must for serious developers. It is sometimes easy to forget that our programming efforts are a collaborative one with Windows. And there are times when it is best to skip the translation and go directly to the source.
   Split into twelve chapters:

   1. Forms,
   2. Standard Components,
   3. Document and Text,
   4. Mouse and Menu,
   5. Graphics,
   6. Multimedia,
   7. Environment and System,
   8. Peripherals,
   9. Database,
   10. OLE and DDE,
   11. The Polished Application, and
   12. Tips and Tricks

   All of the fundamentals are covered. I found it to be an excellent source of exercises for a course in Delphi. While they may not be exactly what you want, all are very easy to tweak to your tastes.
   Although it is not as popular as some other tools, Delphi is an excellent developmental environmental. If you are teaching a course or just want to learn it on your own, this is a superb resource

   Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.