Borland C++Builder 4 Unleashed [Paperback]

Kent Reisdorph (Author)

Book Description

Series: Unleashed | Publication Date: June 18, 1999

This revised and improved edition builds on the success of Charlie Calvert's C++Builder 3 Unleashed by focusing on the more advanced features of C++Builder to address the growing needs of this enterprise-level market. Its intent is to increase coverage of higher-end, enterprise level topics that are desired by users of the Inprise tools. New and expanded coverage of topics include : - CORBA - Delphi, Java, and C++Builder integration - COM/DCOM - Graphics - WebBroker components - Automation and COM Automation - Advanced Database Programming - MIDAS - NT Services

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Weighing in at over 1,100 pages, Borland C++Builder Unleashed delivers a thorough guide to using Inprise Corp's C++Builder 4, a powerful RAD-style C++ compiler. Intermediate to advanced C++ developers facing real-world problems in database, Web, and enterprise development will find this book a valuable resource for extending the application of C++Builder 4.

The authors give real-world advice for building reusable components while examining the Visual Component Library (VCL) standard for shared components used by both C++Builder and Delphi. This includes the creation of "property editors" for better design-time functionality.

Several chapters look at important advanced C++ and Windows programming topics, like C++ templates and Win32 multithreading. The excellent coverage of C++ templates soundly addresses STL containers as well as using templates with pointers for better memory management. Writing Windows NT services and exploiting the powers of the VCL "rich text edit" follows the discussion of templates.

The book provides a rich analysis of database programming using the C++Builder suite of tools such as the Database Desktop, as well as the fundamentals of relational databases. In a couple of standout sections, the authors present two versions of a working contact management database, one using a flat file model and the other following the relational model.

After touching upon topics such as COM and OLE Automation with C++Builder, the authors move on to working with the Internet using built-in controls (including the WinInet support and FTP). Later chapters cover DCOM and CORBA for distributed computing.

C++Builder and Inprise Corp's MIDAS architecture offer excellent ease of use for working with remote servers, and this book illuminates the key operations required for serious enterprise development using these tools. Final chapters concentrate on graphics programming with the VCL graphics classes and Microsoft DirectX, adding multimedia and gaming to the list of topics found in the text.

In all, Borland C++Builder 4 Unleashed makes a convincing case for trying out C++Builder. The authors mix expert commentary with practical sample code resulting in a book that will easily deepen your knowledge of C++Builder. --Richard Dragan

About the Author

Charlie Calvert is a bestselling author and well-respected programming guru. He is the author of Charlie Calvert's C++Builder 3 Unleashed, Charlie Calvert's Delphi 4 Unleashed, and Sams Teach Yourself Windows 95 Programming in 21 Days. His day job is at Inprise International, where he works as a manager in Developer Relations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1248 pages
• Publisher: Sams (June 18, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672315106
• ISBN-13: 978-0672315107
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #342,077 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Uneven composite. Not bad, not great. Gotta have it anyway., August 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Borland C++Builder 4 Unleashed (Paperback)

First of all, if you are hoping for the Calvert touch, it's diluted. The main author is Kent Reisdorph, not Calvert - the Amazon description is wrong. Those of you who have enjoyed Calvert's great teaching skills in other volumes won't be delighted. The CD does NOT include old versions, as advertised, which is very unfortunate, as Calvert's previous BCB writing was very useful.

This book is a hacked composite of some of Calvert's BCB3 text, with additional stuff by several bright authors whose pedagogical talent is less polished.

This is a Borland VCL book, not a C++ book. The problem is this: audience. If you are a Delphi user looking for C++ skills (because you fear that Object Pascal is a lame duck), you won't get enough, because you already know the VCL and the C++ fundamentals are missing. For example, the template inheritance example on page 135 is syntactically complex, and nothing is done to clarify it. Add to that the authors' tendency to do C++ code as if it were Object Pascal, with VCL style and naming conventions, and you aren't exactly getting ready for the mainstream.

Conversely, if you are a Microsoft VC++ user, looking for a more productive RAD environment, which BCB4 certainly is, you will find that the Pascal VCL conventions are a bit mysterious and irritating. You will pick up enough to be productive, but in the end the whole VCL is written in Delphi, so you'll probably have to get more comfortable with the Object Pascal world than you'd like. This is not a major problem, but C++ is more than an OP clone, it deserves a little more tender loving. The sections on the allegedly vital STL, part of the ANSI standard stuff that Borland claims makes BCB4 a much purer C++ than VC++, are minimal.

The Reisdorph "Teach yourself BCB4" books are probably great for the Delphi emigrants, filling in the gaps, but for the VC++ refugees, they are too basic, so this book is IT. Amazingly, you will still have to figure out a lot all by yourself. For instance neither the product manuals nor Unleashed cover things like how you select which .lib files to link to.

Is this to suggest that BCB4 does not stand alone as a pure C++ environment? No, it's just that it's not well documented by anyone. So here we are. Making the best of an outstanding tool (BCB4) that is underpromoted, even in the book department. Even the examples on the CD seem rushed, their numbers for instance don't match up with numbers they have in the text.

All of that does nothing to diminish the value of what is here, a wealth of material on a highly productive tool that you won't find anywhere else. At least all of the material is in print, not only in .PDF format on the CD like with some previous Unleashed volumes. You have 1200 pages dealing with a lot of topics pretty well. This is one of the very few books on BCB4, so you have little choice, and it's fortunately worth buying.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A detailed book for Borland Builder 4, July 9, 2000

By 

J. Wong - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Borland C++Builder 4 Unleashed (Paperback)

This book goes into great detail in how to use Borland Builder 4. There is plenty of program code to use and study from. But it contains some errors in program code. Some of the step-by-instructions are missing or incorrect. The sections on Visual Components and Window Controls go into great detail about these are, but do not give any practical instructions/examples about how to use them in a program.

If you need a good introduction on how to use the various Visual Components and Window Controls, I would recommend getting your hand on Borland C++ Builder 3 for Dummies by Jason Vokes. It give simple instructions/examples on how to forms, form properties, labels, editboxes, listboxes, comboboxes, drawing pen/brush, and etc.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a place to start off, June 24, 2000

By 

Pave - See all my reviews

This review is from: Borland C++Builder 4 Unleashed (Paperback)

Many people need a place to start learning the VCL. I recommend they look elsewhere.

The author did not intend to walk hand-in-hand with the VCL newbie, portraying the glories of the VCL as he advances in the book. For this type of book - i recommed the "in 21 days" series.

The book focuses on giving you WORKING KNOWLEDGE in quite a few areas : Component creation, threads, templates, services and (much) more. The book does not dive deep into any of these subject, and the chapters hardly relate. When you have grasped how to use the VCL, you sometimes need a guide to the other, non basic, stuff CBuilder can offer. This is where this book shines. It gives you great insight on many intermediate - advanced subjects, and really gets you WORKING. It doesnt explain anything under the hood. You just say "hey, i need to write an NT service", open up chapter 5, and write one. The same for creating components, threads and what not.