Customer Reviews

High Performance Delphi 3 Programming

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If you're looking for an advanced book on Delphi look elsewhere. The book is long on words and short on value. You have to trawl for information - the last third of the book is almost entirely taken up with the story of "Ace Breakpoint" detective, which I didn't even find entertaining let alone enlightening. A large amount of the book's text is printed source code (unnecessary when you have it on CD; it just serves as filler). And while every chapter is on a different topic, many are, while Windows related, hardly Delphi specific ("3D Fractal Landscapes", "Drag and Drop the Windows Way" (ie. not the Delphi way) etc.). All this would have been forgiven if the titbits in this book were worthwhile Delphi tips. But although various developers have looked at it, nobody in our office has yet obtained anything useful out of this book. It just sits on a bookshelf now, gathering dust.

You're not going to learn Delphi by reading this book so I wouldn't recommend it for novice programmers. Half the book is spent on internet related code like WinSock, FTP, and OLE. If you're not interested in these topics then you're left with very little else. It covers databases in only 24 pages which is incredibly scant. There is a great deal of filler in this book about Ace Breakpoint who runs a detective agency. It sounds like the author wishes he were writing about something else. Overall the book is far too narrative and reads like a cheap novel. The reader will probably find a few sections of interest and if you find the book at a book sale for around $10, then you might want to give it a try.

I was VERY disappointed to find that "High Performance Delphi 3 Programming" is nothing more than "Kick Ass Delphi" with a new cover and title. A quick scan of the contents pages of both books showed only a couple of minor changes. Jeff Duntemann's Introduction is -Word for Word- the same with the exception of the date. I just paid for a book I already own! I actually researched this purchase to the extent I was able before buying it. NOWHERE does the Corolis Website ad/info about the book mention "Kick Ass Delphi". Had I been able to look at the book before purchase I would have immediately known it was the same book. With the realitively limited number of books on the topic of ADVANCED Delphi programming available it should be made very clear that this is nothing more than a retitled book. The worst thing about this is that "Kick Ass Delphi" wasn't even very good! I will be very hesitant to buy anything from Coriolis in the future.

I like this book, after feeling i was mastering delphi 3, i bought this book, and now im really understandindig somethings, i newer understod before: FTP, TCP/IP this is a book, mostly targeting at the Delphi 3 advanced users, no beginner book! recommended.