Book Review: Delphi 2 Unleashed

Review: Delphi 2 Unleashed

Delphi 2 Unleashed
Charles Calvert
SAMS Publishing
1400 pages + CD-ROM, USD $59.99
ISBN 0-672-30858-4

In this new edition of Delphi Unleashed, Charles Calvert has written a lots of new material to keep up with the Delphi 2 programming envirinment. This heavy weight achievement contains massive amounts of information for the casual and acomplished developer alike.

The book starts by describing the basics of Object Pascal language without foregetting to tell what's new in this version. Strings, pointers and exceptions under Win32 all become clear if they weren't that already. But don't think that these features are just listed: simple things like strings suddenly become alive as their less-known internals are described.

If these six comprehensive chapters about basics of Object Pascal weren't enough, or using Delphi itself seems difficult, you can always turn to the CD. It contains 15 most basic chapters of the previous edition of the book. If this isn't enough for you, you're probably in the wrong business.

Having described the information a beginner needs, the book quickly moves into more challenging areas. Multitasking, threads, memory management are examples of the covered Win32 areas. Also, the reader will learn how to bypass the Delphi VCL. Window procedures and the basics of "traditional" Windows programming start to seem basic task without ripping your hair off.

Databases are explored with real world examples, as are objets and component creation. More advanced areas, like OLE2 and COM, and multimedia are all conquered with the same enthusiasm and warm, clear writing style. And to keep up with the todays world, Internet and CGI programming are introduced.

Having a book comprehensive as this makes it a excellent book for anybody interested in Delphi 2 programming. Many source code examples from the Real World along with easy to read chapters can't be a bad thing. The only minus with this book is that it is a bit too fat. Liposucting this and that would help - sometimes the text could be more compact, but not too often. After all, a good buy. Four stars of five.