.NET 2.0 for Delphi Programmers
By Jon ShemitzPublished by Apress.
Last year I started studying (..eventually...) toward the MCPD qualification. In all honesty it was a reluctant decision, I'd been programming exclusively in Delphi for 10 years, and had the stark realisation that no matter how much I hoped - the Delphi market was not going to get better.
The first Sunday, sitting in the classroom I realised I didn't know much C#. My C from 10+ years prior start coming back to me, += , but that's as far as it went. I needed to get up to speed quickly, and a couple of weeks prior I had just happened to pick up .NET 2.0 for Delphi Programmers.
I'd originally heard about this book when Jon Shemitz posted a notice about it on the Borland newsgroups, and one day in a local book store (Easons) I picked up a copy. In reality its not so much a book about Delphi Programming even though it is full of code examples, its a book for Delphi Programmers who wish to or need to learn some C# and dotNet.
I won't reiterate the Table of contents, basically the book is primarily broken into 3 main sections as follows:
Part 1. Common Language Runtime
This first part brings us through the CLR (Common Language Runtime) and introduces and explains garbage collection, JIT and a slew of other dotNet features.
I for one had a number of misconceptions about dotNet, the runtime, garbage collection etc., that these chapters cleared up.
Where applicable Jon plays off our existing Delphi knowledge, so you're never too far from what you know while not reading a dotNet feature list.
Part 2. C# and Delphi
These chapters are as Jon himself says more a cross-reference than a tutorial. As a cross-reference you won't be too far from Delphi ground with all topics covered off well.
The final 2 chapters in this section then break off into more specific areas, a catch all for the remaining C# topics: Ch9. C# Topics and a chapter on Delphi.Net Ch10. Delphi for .Net (by Hallvard Vassbotn).
I'd guess that Ch10 was included for completeness, as Jon says it was the last chapter he began to write that due to an accident was taken over by Hallvard.
Part 3. The Framework Class Library
Finally Jon brings us into the core world of .Net via the FCL. Primarily in C# (which I preferred at this point) this is a good reference for the Framework. Where applicable we still get Delphi or VCL comparisons and really is the final part of the jigsaw towards the whole dotNet world. Personally given a preference I'd rather read these topics from Jon rather than from something like the MCTS 70-536 training kit.
So who is this book for? Well every Delphi dotNet sceptic (of which I was one) should read the first section. More serious about C#, also read the second section. Moving into dotNet, also read the third.
If you're a Delphi programmer with any leaning towards dotNet, even if it is just curiosity, this book comes highly recommended.
The Tomes of Delphi - Algorithms and Data Structures
By Julian M BucknallLets face it, if you find a book on Algorithms and Data Structures, it'll most likely be a revision of the classic text by Robert Sedgewick and most likely now be in Java. If you go back as far as 1988 (I have one on my book shelf) you might have a version in Pascal.
Back in 2001, Julian (M) Bucknall (I think the M stands for Master in the Jedi sense) wrote the aforementioned book. I don't know how limited the publishing run was considering even I had a few opportunities to order it at the time - even holding a copy in a local bookstore at one point.
But in truth it was that bit more expensive than other books of the era, and my money always ended up going on something else, and it got resigned to the must pick up at some stage - when its a bit cheaper plan. Well it didn't get cheaper, if you go to Amazon now, it'll probably cost you at least €150 to buy one of the handful of second hand copies, supposedly it even hit the $1K level at one point.
But unlike that self titled The Golden Horde album that was "lost" at a party in 1993[1], somethings eventually right themselves and bring the world back into balance. Julian has for a second time come through for us and kindly re-released the book on Lulu.com.
[1] This has also "righted" itself :)
For more information about Lulu - http://www.lulu.com/about
Firstly, this is a Delphi book and although Sedgewick is revered as a master by Bucknall, Bucknall brought his version to the masses - he took it from the academic (in comparison to the 1988 text) and delivered theory, explanations and code.Secondly (for me) Julian's enthusiasm shines in this book. In 2006 reading a book from 2001 that hasn't lost any of its technical merit - but still shines (in my mind) with an energy that I feel otherwise got lost in the aftermath of the dotcom madness. At that point authors started writing about how to save your job rather than being good at it - its nice for a time to get lost in something more fundimental for a little while.
Having read it I realise I should have bought it at the time. Either way, on a number of levels its worth a read, for Delphi programmers this is a classic text, and from Lulu its a bargain that should not be missed.
Visit Julian Bucknall's site at www.boyet.com.
Purchase the book from Lulu at http://www.lulu.com/content/435417
