Delphi 5 Developer's Guide (Developer's Guide)
Weighing in at over 1,500 pages,Delphi 5 Developer's Guideupdates a classic text on Delphi programming with a new edition that highlights the latest and greatest in version 5. Whether you are new to Delphi or a seasoned veteran, this book will help you get the most out of this powerful development tool, including database, Internet, and thin-client computing.The sheer size ofDelphi 5 Developer's Guidemakes it a standout. (This already massive book bundles 11 "extra" chapters on the accompanying CD-ROM on such topics as graphics programming and coding standards.) The text presents how-to information on a wealth of topics, along with short code excerpts and complete programs where appropriate.Two areas deserve special mention. First, essential Windows programming techniques, from calling Win32 APIs to Microsoft COM in all its guises, are examined especially closely. (Besides the basics of building ActiveX controls and OLE Automation in Delphi, there's material on using MTS and ADO.) This book also sheds some insight on programming "thin clients," with solid coverage of Borland's MIDAS middleware solution, as well as Delphi's support for creating browser-based applications (through its WebBroker classes). Later chapters contain in-depth code examples that contrast "traditional" two-tiered client/server programming with thin-client versions (using both MIDAS and HTML). This material can help get your existing Delphi skills up to speed with current browser-based Web application requirements.There aren't many books out there on Delphi programming, so this text meets an essential need with its thorough tour of what's available in version 5.--Richard DraganTopics covered: Delphi 5 basics, history of Delphi, Delphi IDE features, the Object Pascal language, object-oriented programming techniques, exceptions, Win32 programming APIs, the Delphi application frameworks, Windows messages and Delphi events, dynamic link libraries, printing, multithreaded applications, threads and synchronization objects, file basics, directories and drives, memory-mapped files, programming the Windows shell, hooks, system information, using the clipboard, the Visual Component Library (VCL), building custom components, COM basics, building ActiveX controls, ActiveForms, OLE Automation, OLE containers, DCOM and MTS programming, Delphi CORBA support, BDE and databases, ODBC and ADO support, client/server programming techniques, WebBroker, NSAPI and ISAPI Internet applications in Delphi, thin clients, and MIDAS applications.