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Rating: 
Summary: Rotten tutorial
Review: I do not like writing negative book reviews (see other books I have reviewed) but I feel I have to in this case. I bought this book because a major portion of the book (Chapters 8 to 14) goes through a tutorial of developing a database application using Delphi. I quickly ran into problems.
1. In many cases, what the book says and the illustrations do not match. This can be very confusing. In most cases, follow what the book says (exception: Chapter 9 - the editform where the illustration is correct; I believe a paragraph has been deleted here.)
2. The author's style of writing is verbose. It would be much easier if steps were written in a 1-2-3 manner so that it is easy to follow rather than putting everything into essay form. If you were spending a half hour a day or so working through the book, it can be very difficult to pick up where you left off. Also in the future if you want to refer to something, it is very difficult to look it up.
3. (personal opinion) I happen to disagree both with the author's user interface and with his method of data modeling.
4. There is a CD with the book which supposedly has all the source code from the book. This would be a good place to check the typographical errors and to see a complete finished product with all the code. Unfortunately the finished product does not work, the code in the CD has no resemblance whatsoever to what was in the tutorial. On the bright side, I like his naming conventions for objects (Chapter 4). Also one of the few books I have come across that goes through report writing in some detail (Chapter 12) and the Control Grid component (user beware: the control grid component comes with the developer's edition of Delphi, not the desktop edition). If you are really interested in database programming with Delphi, and are willing to take the time and spend the effort to do it right, I would recommend that you get:
1. A good book on database design (eg. "An introduction to database systems" by Date, "Data Analysis for Data Base Design" by Howe)
2. A good book on user interface design
3. A good book on Delphi techniques (eg. "Mastering Delphi" by Cantu)
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent tutorial
Review: I don't write many good technical book reviews. Most books just don't deserve it. This one, however, is an exception. I bought this book because a good portion of it is dedicated to a tutorial that shows how to develop a complete database application using Delphi. I have never seen such a detailed, complete tutorial in a technical book. It spans some seven chapters and takes you from literally nothing but a concept of what the application might to do a polished product. I've never seen anything like it in a book before. Some highlights: 1. The interleaving of the figures and commentary is excellent. It feels like you've got the instructor right there in the room with you. You get the sense that the author has built an application or two. 2. The prose is friendly, yet nitpickingly technical and complete. Useful tips abound. Usually, you don't get both technical excellence and good writing in the same computer book. Not true with this one. This is some of the best technical writing I've ever read. 3. The approach taken to show user-interface design is right on the money. It's better than many books dedicated to the subject. Henderson apparently comes from the same school of thought as Microsoft. His recommendations follow those of the book "The Windows User Interface Guidelines for Software Design" (from Microsoft Press), though his book predates this book. I also really love his approach to database design and data modeling. It is a nice cross between the approach C.J. Date's books take (e.g., Foundation for Future Database Systems - Addison-Wesley) and those of Joe Celko (e.g., Data and Databases - Morgan-Kaufmann). His approach is practical, yet grounded in solid theory. Here is a database wiz who knows both sides of the business -- the high-brow theory and the stuff that pays the bills. 4. The CD is a great value in and of itself. In addition to providing the full source code for the book (there must be thousands of lines of it), it also contains a number of extra utilities and components that have value a part from the book. I would have paid what I did for the book just to get the CD. The book is simply a masterpiece that has stood the test of time. The naming conventions chapter, the report writing chapter, the chapter on the BDE, the one on creating your own data-aware components, etc., make for some of the best technical writing out there on Delphi or any other language tool. If you are really interested in database programming with Delphi, this is the one book to have. It tells you everything you need to know to build robust, scalable, polished Delphi applications for the complex world of Windows. I liked this one so much that I recently paid big $$ to get the sequel to this book (Client/Server Developer's Guide with Delphi) from a collector. I'll post a review of it as soon as I finish going through it. Already I'm learning tons. One last comment: I loved the Epilogue. No one has ever said it better!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent tutorial
Review: I don't write many good technical book reviews. Most books just don't deserve it. This one, however, is an exception. I bought this book because a good portion of it is dedicated to a tutorial that shows how to develop a complete database application using Delphi. I have never seen such a detailed, complete tutorial in a technical book. It spans some seven chapters and takes you from literally nothing but a concept of what the application might to do a polished product. I've never seen anything like it in a book before. Some highlights: 1. The interleaving of the figures and commentary is excellent. It feels like you've got the instructor right there in the room with you. You get the sense that the author has built an application or two. 2. The prose is friendly, yet nitpickingly technical and complete. Useful tips abound. Usually, you don't get both technical excellence and good writing in the same computer book. Not true with this one. This is some of the best technical writing I've ever read. 3. The approach taken to show user-interface design is right on the money. It's better than many books dedicated to the subject. Henderson apparently comes from the same school of thought as Microsoft. His recommendations follow those of the book "The Windows User Interface Guidelines for Software Design" (from Microsoft Press), though his book predates this book. I also really love his approach to database design and data modeling. It is a nice cross between the approach C.J. Date's books take (e.g., Foundation for Future Database Systems - Addison-Wesley) and those of Joe Celko (e.g., Data and Databases - Morgan-Kaufmann). His approach is practical, yet grounded in solid theory. Here is a database wiz who knows both sides of the business -- the high-brow theory and the stuff that pays the bills. 4. The CD is a great value in and of itself. In addition to providing the full source code for the book (there must be thousands of lines of it), it also contains a number of extra utilities and components that have value a part from the book. I would have paid what I did for the book just to get the CD. The book is simply a masterpiece that has stood the test of time. The naming conventions chapter, the report writing chapter, the chapter on the BDE, the one on creating your own data-aware components, etc., make for some of the best technical writing out there on Delphi or any other language tool. If you are really interested in database programming with Delphi, this is the one book to have. It tells you everything you need to know to build robust, scalable, polished Delphi applications for the complex world of Windows. I liked this one so much that I recently paid big $$ to get the sequel to this book (Client/Server Developer's Guide with Delphi) from a collector. I'll post a review of it as soon as I finish going through it. Already I'm learning tons. One last comment: I loved the Epilogue. No one has ever said it better!
Rating:
Summary: One of the classics
Review: I got on here to see if maybe this book had been updated and was saddened to learn that it has not been. Oh well, no matter - I'll just keep using the one I have. I have to admit, my copy is getting pretty worn. The back cover was lost long ago and the front probably won't make it through the year. Why? The book is a masterpiece. You don't see readable prose and precise detail like this anymore. You don't find breadth and depth in the same computer book these days. I take it with me everywhere I go. What I like most about the book is that it's laden with experience. Obviously, the author has been around the world a time or two as a developer. He knows his stuff because he has been there, a fact you can't miss if you read the book through. All in all, if you want to learn database development in Delphi from a master, look no further - this is the book for you. Nevermind that it was written for D2 - it's just as applicable today as it was when D2 first came out. Penned by a veteran software engineer who writes prose as well as writes code, this is the one book to have if you want to know Delphi database development inside out.
Rating:
Summary: The best Delphi book I have found
Review: I have all the Delphi books out there - Cantu, Calvert, etc. - and none of them compare to this one. It's written better than 99% of the technical books you will find. It is also jam-packed with useful technical info. No other Delphi book compares. The best things about this one are: * Detailed instructions on connecting to and working with the leading DBMSs. Just the other day this saved my behind with an Oracle problem I was having. * The components chapter. I couldn't believe how easy it was to make data bound components. * The tutorial. I worked through this and learned oodles of things that I didn't know about Delphi (I've been using Delphi since version 2). It's just a great book that belongs in your library if you're serious about Delphi.
Rating:
Summary: The best Delphi book I have found
Review: I have all the Delphi books out there - Cantu, Calvert, etc. - and none of them compare to this one. It's written better than 99% of the technical books you will find. It is also jam-packed with useful technical info. No other Delphi book compares. The best things about this one are: * Detailed instructions on connecting to and working with the leading DBMSs. Just the other day this saved my behind with an Oracle problem I was having. * The components chapter. I couldn't believe how easy it was to make data bound components. * The tutorial. I worked through this and learned oodles of things that I didn't know about Delphi (I've been using Delphi since version 2). It's just a great book that belongs in your library if you're serious about Delphi.
Rating:
Summary: A great book that helped me through some tough projects
Review: This is a generally useful book. I have come to Delphi as an alternative to Visual Basic. I found the beginning of the book useful, where it discusses the differences between Delphi and other languages. I tried to work through the examples starting with Chapter 8. Unfortunately, a great many things are left out. One example: it talks about Database Desktop without mentioning that it is a separate Executable, that had I had to find using Explorer (no clues in the text as to what it is, or how to envoke it), and that it will not run without Delphi being present. In addition, the "screen shots" don't correspond with the text; for example, in developing some of the Forms in Chapter 10 there is no mention of a number of command buttons shown in the visuals. Why? I just wished that Mr. Henderson had enlisted someone not familiar with Delphi to work through the examples in the book before he sent it to the publishers. If you can work through these problems, you can learn some good Delphi programming tricks. The discussion of designing the Database PRIOR to starting up your computer is very useful.
Rating:
Summary: The Michael Jordan of Delphi books
Review: This is the Michael Jordan of Delphi books. It is the best there ever was, the best there will ever be. Every page in this book holds knowledge that Delphi programmers should know. If you're a new Delphi developer, you need this book to learn how the masters do things. If you're an intermediate developer, you need this book to take you to the next step in your development as a programmer. And if you're an expert, you need this book to learn some tricks from an old master and to see how the wizards do things. From the expert commentary, to the excellent writing, to the treasure trove of technical advice, this is, page-for-page, the best Delphi book ever written.
Rating:
Summary: The Michael Jordan of Delphi books
Review: This is the Michael Jordan of Delphi books. It is the best there ever was, the best there will ever be. Every page in this book holds knowledge that Delphi programmers should know. If you're a new Delphi developer, you need this book to learn how the masters do things. If you're an intermediate developer, you need this book to take you to the next step in your development as a programmer. And if you're an expert, you need this book to learn some tricks from an old master and to see how the wizards do things. From the expert commentary, to the excellent writing, to the treasure trove of technical advice, this is, page-for-page, the best Delphi book ever written.
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