Borland C++Builder 4 Unleashed

Rating:
Summary: Uneven composite. Not bad, not great. Gotta have it anyway.
Review: First of all, if you are hoping for the Calvert touch, it's diluted. The main author is Kent Reisdorph, not Calvert - the Amazon description is wrong. Those of you who have enjoyed Calvert's great teaching skills in other volumes won't be delighted. The CD does NOT include old versions, as advertised, which is very unfortunate, as Calvert's previous BCB writing was very useful.

This book is a hacked composite of some of Calvert's BCB3 text, with additional stuff by several bright authors whose pedagogical talent is less polished.

This is a Borland VCL book, not a C++ book. The problem is this: audience. If you are a Delphi user looking for C++ skills (because you fear that Object Pascal is a lame duck), you won't get enough, because you already know the VCL and the C++ fundamentals are missing. For example, the template inheritance example on page 135 is syntactically complex, and nothing is done to clarify it. Add to that the authors' tendency to do C++ code as if it were Object Pascal, with VCL style and naming conventions, and you aren't exactly getting ready for the mainstream.

Conversely, if you are a Microsoft VC++ user, looking for a more productive RAD environment, which BCB4 certainly is, you will find that the Pascal VCL conventions are a bit mysterious and irritating. You will pick up enough to be productive, but in the end the whole VCL is written in Delphi, so you'll probably have to get more comfortable with the Object Pascal world than you'd like. This is not a major problem, but C++ is more than an OP clone, it deserves a little more tender loving. The sections on the allegedly vital STL, part of the ANSI standard stuff that Borland claims makes BCB4 a much purer C++ than VC++, are minimal.

The Reisdorph "Teach yourself BCB4" books are probably great for the Delphi emigrants, filling in the gaps, but for the VC++ refugees, they are too basic, so this book is IT. Amazingly, you will still have to figure out a lot all by yourself. For instance neither the product manuals nor Unleashed cover things like how you select which .lib files to link to.

Is this to suggest that BCB4 does not stand alone as a pure C++ environment? No, it's just that it's not well documented by anyone. So here we are. Making the best of an outstanding tool (BCB4) that is underpromoted, even in the book department. Even the examples on the CD seem rushed, their numbers for instance don't match up with numbers they have in the text.

All of that does nothing to diminish the value of what is here, a wealth of material on a highly productive tool that you won't find anywhere else. At least all of the material is in print, not only in .PDF format on the CD like with some previous Unleashed volumes. You have 1200 pages dealing with a lot of topics pretty well. This is one of the very few books on BCB4, so you have little choice, and it's fortunately worth buying.

Rating:
Summary: C++ BUILDER 4 UNLEASHED
Review: I need to programing using VCL with Threads of WINDOWS API, like as... CreateThread(...,...,... ..) USING SERIAL PORT, like as... CreateFile(...,....,... ..) If is possible using PARALLEL PORT formerly in c++ 3.0 for DOS inport or outport. Why is more dificult to programing this in VCL or environment windows that DOS?. I think this things must be more easy for user.

Rating:
Summary: Don't expect any support!
Review: I purchased this book four weeks ago and in chapter 2 I tried to run the code. It would not run. So I posted in the Borland Non-Technical news group and was told that there are problems with several items in this book, including chapter 2. Kent told me he was really busy and would get back to me. I also wrote Kent personally and after 4 weeks I re-sent the original email. Today I got an angry email back from him stating that he is working 80 hour weeks and he did not appreciate me asking if he was too busy to support his product. No answer to the original problem. Just an angry email.

I also wrote several emails to the publisher asking about the problem code throughout the book and they continued to point me to their web site which ONLY has a chapter 24 zip file. I gave up with them. They must be too busy too to help a customer the right way.

As far as the book goes... it's OK. Expect typos and code that won't work. The book is written well and his mood must have been a whole lot better than it was when he answered my email.

Rating:
Summary: Just a copy of "Delphi 4 Unleashed", too bad!
Review: If not the difference between Object Pascal and C++, this book is the same as "Delphi4 Unleashed", a must for Delphi programmers. So, this book seems at most a translation version of Delphi4 Unleashed, by just translating the sample code from OP to C++. If you've already owned the Delphi one, don't buy this one! Anyway, the content is peerless as it's nearlly the same as that of exellent book "Delphi4 Unleashed".

Rating:
Summary: Just a copy of "Delphi 4 Unleashed", too bad!
Review: If not the difference between Object Pascal and C++, this book is the same as "Delphi4 Unleashed", a must for Delphi programmers. So, this book seems at most a translation version of Delphi4 Unleashed, by just translating the sample code from OP to C++. If you've already owned the Delphi one, don't buy this one! Anyway, the content is peerless as it's nearlly the same as that of exellent book "Delphi4 Unleashed".

Rating:
Summary: Not a place to start off
Review: Many people need a place to start learning the VCL. I recommend they look elsewhere.

The author did not intend to walk hand-in-hand with the VCL newbie, portraying the glories of the VCL as he advances in the book. For this type of book - i recommed the "in 21 days" series.

The book focuses on giving you WORKING KNOWLEDGE in quite a few areas : Component creation, threads, templates, services and (much) more. The book does not dive deep into any of these subject, and the chapters hardly relate. When you have grasped how to use the VCL, you sometimes need a guide to the other, non basic, stuff CBuilder can offer. This is where this book shines. It gives you great insight on many intermediate - advanced subjects, and really gets you WORKING. It doesnt explain anything under the hood. You just say "hey, i need to write an NT service", open up chapter 5, and write one. The same for creating components, threads and what not.

Rating:
Summary: A detailed book for Borland Builder 4
Review: This book goes into great detail in how to use Borland Builder 4. There is plenty of program code to use and study from. But it contains some errors in program code. Some of the step-by-instructions are missing or incorrect. The sections on Visual Components and Window Controls go into great detail about these are, but do not give any practical instructions/examples about how to use them in a program.

If you need a good introduction on how to use the various Visual Components and Window Controls, I would recommend getting your hand on Borland C++ Builder 3 for Dummies by Jason Vokes. It give simple instructions/examples on how to forms, form properties, labels, editboxes, listboxes, comboboxes, drawing pen/brush, and etc.

Rating:
Summary: A detailed book for Borland Builder 4
Review: This book goes into great detail in how to use Borland Builder 4. There is plenty of program code to use and study from. But it contains some errors in program code. Some of the step-by-instructions are missing or incorrect. The sections on Visual Components and Window Controls go into great detail about these are, but do not give any practical instructions/examples about how to use them in a program.

If you need a good introduction on how to use the various Visual Components and Window Controls, I would recommend getting your hand on Borland C++ Builder 3 for Dummies by Jason Vokes. It give simple instructions/examples on how to forms, form properties, labels, editboxes, listboxes, comboboxes, drawing pen/brush, and etc.

Rating:
Summary: I wish there was something more...
Review: This book skips into complex topics devoting chapter, on chapter to database manipulation, COM, DCOM, ActiveX, but does nothing to explain basic VCL components. Leaving me in the dust. The only thing I found useful is the component writing section, which is brief and poorly documented.

This book is a waste of money

Rating:
Summary: G Get it even if you have the first one
Review: When i bought this book i fought it would be much of the older stuff, but it has been updated and added to. So if you think that you got the old one and don't need the new one, YOUR WRONG. If you can spare the cash and want a good C++Builder book this one os for you!