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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Definately for beginners., October 11, 2000
This review is from: Learn Object Pascal with Delphi (Paperback)
First off, this IS just like the back of the book says, "Level: Introductory to Intermediate." From the first chapter to the last, old style console words like ReadLn and WriteLn are used and bring back old memories, as the source code is all in console mode. No Windows programs here, but if you are in need of learning just what it says "Learn Object Pascal with Delphi" then that's exactly what you get. The companion CD has Delphi5 Standard version and all of the books source code. There is only one chapter devoted to Objects and that I find fault with. It is called "Introduction to Object Oriented Programming with Object Pascal." In my opinion there should be more on this subject, but like the book title says, "Object Pascal" should be taken quite literally. This chapter is also done in console mode code. I would have liked this book to have at least gone towards program code being in the Windows environment towards the middle to end. The many other code learning books I own start out teaching in console mode, then progress to using Windows for what it really is for. This book does not do that, it just stays in console mode start to end. If you need to learn Object Pascal and have little to no experience in programming, then this book is excellent for you.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delivers what it promises!, July 18, 2001
This review is from: Learn Object Pascal with Delphi (Paperback)
I can't understand the negative reviews for this book. I'm with the first reviewer, Larrywp from Carson City, NV -- this is a great introductory book to programming for the non-programmer. All of the essentials behind programming in any language are here(declaring and initializing variables, working with strings and arrays, pointers, file-handling, looping, etc.), and the book also includes a minor intro to object-oriented programming. While I would have appreciated going a little further into OOP and at least cursory info about how the Delphi IDE fits in, the book makes clear from the start that it won't be going there. Rather, this book's aim is to provide novices with the foundation they need to understand what's going on in code behind the IDE, and at that, it succeeds quite well. There were a few typos/formatting glitches that a tighter tech or page-proof edit would have caught, but the content of this book is nonetheless clear. If you happen to agree with the author's view that the place to start is with fundamental coding skills (that means practicing and learning with console (DOS) applications, not GUI apps), then this book really is an excellent place to start. As for choosing Delphi Pascal as a learning language, I've looked at many languages and read several books to try to grasp the fundamentals. I have no prorgramming or computer science experience, which made my search for the right language and tutorial all the more difficult. Believe me, I've looked at just about everything: VB, C++, C#, Java, RealBASIC, Perl, Python, Objective C, Rebol, and Ruby, to name most of them. After much study, I believe that Pascal, with its focus on highly structured and well throught out "unit" modules, really makes the most sense for a beginner (RealBASIC comes close, but good reference material is still a bit scarce). The language just makes sense to me, and coupled with Borland's Delphi IDE, programming is just easier and more fun to learn. If you're just getting started on your adventures in programming, this book can't be beat. It even includes Delphi 5 standard to practice with, which is a ... value on its own. Although Delphi 6 is already out, use this book and v.5 to explore the language (which hasn't changed at all, as far as I can tell) and the environment as a means of deciding whether Delphi is for you. If so, you'll want to move on to additional references, like Marco Cantu's Mastering Delphi books. One more note -- just because this book is for absolute novices, that doesn't mean it's a no-brainer. The pace is relatively swift, and I had to re-read some sections several times to catch on. The code samples build on prior lessons, too, and I found myself going back to previous material to refresh my recollection. This, however, helped rather than hindered my learning, as I was forced to re-study recently learned concepts I would have otherwise forgotten. In all, this book is a great value and an excellent read. It's finally got me going as a fledgling programmer, and for that, the author and publisher (as well as Borland) deserve great thanks!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Very Good Book For Those New To Pascal And Programming, May 16, 2001
This review is from: Learn Object Pascal with Delphi (Paperback)
I consider that this is one of the best introductory books on computer programming I have read and I have read a lot of books on computer programming. It not only teaches the reader how to code in Pascal, but also how to program. The techniques which the author elaborates are applicable to other computer languages such as C++ and Java. Typically, the authors of books on computing, propose a problem and then give the solution as a listing without giving any indication of how they arrived at the solution. This author breaks the problem down into its component parts and proceeds to code and discuss each part and then combines the parts into a program or in Chapter 8 and succeding chapters into one or more units. The author also explains the advantages of modularizing a program using procedures, functions and units as an aid to information hidding and security. Readers who are new to programming should note how the author prefaces each of his procedures and functions with a panel giving a brief description of the purpose, input parameters and output values. The author makes it very easy for the uninitiated to do the example programs by creating a template project which is used throughout the book. The semantics of Pascal are well covered in the first seven chapters. In Chapter 8 the concept of units is introduced. My first attempt at the Currency Conver program with two units would not compile, so I tried the program from the CD-ROM, and although it compiled correctly, I got a run time error. I typed in the complete program again and this time it worked perfectly. In Chapter 9 on arrays, the author gives an interesting example of how a non-numerical ordinal type (char) can be used as the control variable in a FOR loop in the airplane seat reservation program. Chapter 10 on records gives a good example using student details of how all the procedures and functions can be contained in a unit, with only a simple menu, using the case construct as the main program. Also in this chapter is an introduction to stack and queue structures. Chapter 11 gives an introduction to object orientated programming using the queue structure from the previous chapter. While this chapter discusses the aspects of OOP, it is only an introduction to the subject of object orientated programming and a more advanced book would be required for a more in depth study of the subject, but what is given is adequate for an introduction. The twelth and final chapter discusses file IO and pointers. The file IO componet covers various ways files can be handled and is quite adequate. The section on pointers is probably too brief to be of much use, but the linked list is an interesting example of how pointers can be used. It is not the author's intention to delve into the graphical apects of Delphi, so there are not any examples of it in this book, but if any readers want to see Pascal in the Delphi environment, then they can see Marco Cantu's online book: Essential Pascal .... Marco Cantu is the author of the series of books Delhi Unleashed. I would have given this book a four star rating, but in Chapter 7 and some other chapters, nearly all the inequalities are missing from the statements. This is gross carelessness on the part of the author and the proof readers. I suggest readers down load the programs from the CD-Rom to see what the inequalities should be and pencil them in.
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