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Teach Yourself Borland Delphi 4 in 21 Days
by Kent Reisdorph

Publisher: Sams  Buy it Now!
ISBN: 0672312867
Format: Paperback, 944pp.

Author Kent Reisdorph is a senior software engineer and a contributing editor for the Delphi Developer's Journal. Reisdorph is also a member of TeamB, Borland's online volunteer support group. As a member of TeamB, Reisdorph puts in many hours each week on the Borland newsgroups answering questions, primarily on Delphi, C++Builder and Windows programming. He is also the author of Sams Teach Yourself C++Builder 3 in 21 Days.

Sams Teach Yourself Delphi 4 In 21 Days features day-by-day lessons and clear syntax examples of everyday programming, using the effective 21-day teaching tool to walk a new programmer through component creation and programming in Delphi.

Look at what you'll learn and read about. First chapters (or 'days') will show you basics of the Delphi programming environment and object Pascal along with the OOP fundamentals. Further chapters will clarify database programming, using COM and ActiveX controls, creating and using DLLs, graphics, multimedia programming and building Internet applications. This book also has a compare-and-contrast piece on Delphi and C++Builder. In chapters targeted to a intermediate audience like "COM and ActiveX" and "Creating and Using DLLs," the author makes complex subjects accessible for everyone. Another outstanding chapter deals with the variety of tools and options provided with Delphi. Excellent quiz and exercise sections provided at the end of each chapter will help you to apply and better understand the concepts discussed.

There's one thing about this book that I did not like: In the first 126 pages of this 918 page book, Reisdorph attempts to cover the entire breadth of Object Pascal, control structures, classes and object-oriented programming. Don't give up if you get a headache trying to figure out what pointers are.

A Sams Teach Yourself book is the perfect introduction to an upper-level development tool such as Delphi. Sams Teach Yourself Delphi 4 In 21 Days is a good choice for the beginner or intermediate programmer who wants to get a solid foundation in Delphi 4 development in a minimal amount of time.