22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good .NET instruction, but not very Delphi-centric, August 7, 2004
This review is from: Delphi for .NET Developer's Guide (Paperback)
I was initially disappointed by this book, though now I am only slightly negative. In the book, the author provides a good overview of how you can use Delphi for .NET and ASP.NET. I did learn a lot about .NET and am better prepared for the migration.
However, this looks and reads like an editted C# book. Except for a few pages (literally one chapter), there is very little about Delphi. The examples are in Delphi, which helps with the understanding, but the author uses the Microsoft .NET libraries and DOES NOT USE EVEN ONE of the Borland specific libraries like VCL.NET, etc. in his examples.
Overall, an educational book, but not what I was looking for.
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14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I definitely recommend this book., July 7, 2004
This review is from: Delphi for .NET Developer's Guide (Paperback)
Delphi for .NET Developer's Guide by Xavier Pacheco is the first book about the new generation of Borland Delphi development environment. Delphi 8 is the first version of Delphi that allows programmers to harness the power of Microsoft .NET framework, and bring productivity to the new levels through advanced technologies and application lifecycle management.
The collaboration of author and several contributing writers enabled this book to bring fresh and relevant information in print quickly. I enjoyed this format while reading the book; the mix of styles brought in by different people makes reading moving. At the same time it is in no way disconnected, and the well-structured set-up is definitely felt through the chapters.
Seeing how fast this book was brought to the market, some minor discrepancies and misprints are excusable, do not lower the technical value of the book, and can be overlooked. I haven't noticed any serious mistakes.
The book includes a concise introduction to .NET and to the Delphi language, as well as the more important features of the new Delphi for .NET environment. Such subjects as Assemblies, GDI+ programming, Cross Platform demonstration, Reflection, and memory management are discussed.
Most developers will find chapters on .NET collections, strings and multithreading extremely useful. Interoperability with unmanaged applications, and WinForms programming are also covered.
Multitier development is mostly discussed in the context of web services and .NET remoting. Which are very powerful concepts of the new framework that will definitely progress in the future.
Unfortunately, there are no chapters on the Borland VCL.NET. However, the accompanying CD includes a copy of the Delphi 6 Developer's Guide by Xavier Pacheco in PDF format, which discusses VCL, the ancestor of VCL.NET in great detail. VCL is a time proven extremely well structured extendable library of visual and non-visual components that allows building business class applications in very rapid and clean manner.
Back to the Delphi for .NET Developer's Guide. Out of the several data access technologies available with Delphi, the book discusses the one that fits the .NET framework the best: ADO.NET. This topic is well covered from different sides. There is also a chapter on the Borland Data Provider - the methodology that allows better data connectivity design time support.
ASP.NET is one of the most exciting features of .NET. Built on top of ISAPI frameset, it allows development of powerful web applications and interactive web sites. ASP.NET uses code behind concept of dynamically loaded libraries written in full fidelity .NET languages such as Delphi 8. At the same time ASP.NET provides developers with all the plumbing necessary for scalable session management, statefull and stateless execution, caching, as well as authentication and authorization mechanisms.
ASP.NET is arguably the best-covered subject in the book that surly deserves the attention.
As far as improvements go, perhaps, I would enjoy seeing chapters on cryptography, regular expressions, but at 861 or so pages, this book is definitely a fundamental work, that is a good read and works well as a handy reference.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comprehensive Intro to .NET From a Delphi Perspective, July 6, 2004
This review is from: Delphi for .NET Developer's Guide (Paperback)
Xavier has continued his excellent Delphi Developers Guide tradition into the .NET space, but don't let the title fool you. This is first and foremost a book on .NET software development, using Delphi for .NET for the examples and to demonstrate the concepts seasoned programmers need when moving to .NET. This book is not a simple "here's how to drop a component onto a form" type of introduction to programming. It is written so as to not insult the intelligence of the seasoned programmer, yet is written in such an easy to read approachable manner that intermediate programmers will easily pick it up and beginning programmers will easily figure out what they need to research when they go to the more introductory texts that already exist elsewhere for Delphi.
Xavier has included a nice variety of topic matter, assisted by a plethora of contributing authors. There's even a chapter on using Delphi for .NET with Mono! (How's that for being up to date?) Other chapters cover the newest changes to the Delphi language, writing database applications using ADO.NET, as well as ASP.NET and a variety of very useful topics like multithreading in .NET as well as memory issues and collections, and .NET remoting.
The writing is top-notch and very readable. This is a book you can take with you on the plane, or sit next to the fireplace, and actually read. If you are a software developer that has been sitting on the fence in regard to .NET, you owe to yourself to read this book and use it as your guide to .NET and Delphi for .NET.
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