Next week I'll give a special and exclusive online training  class on the Object Pascal language. I've been doing a lot of Delphi and Object Pascal training for companies before joining Embarcadero, and while I've been doing a lot of webinars, talked to conferences, and given CodeRage sessions, we are trying to setup something different:

  • Special because it is really a new experiment in terms of format with a single longer-than-average session (a 3 hours online class, with a short break, rather than the standard one hour webinar). If it goes well, this format might be repeated in the future.
  • Exclusive because this online event is reserved to developers who have bought XE7 or registered a trial, rather than open to anyone. The idea is to deliver extra value (a class on the language will cost you several hundred dollars) to our most loyal customers.

You an sign up at http://forms.embarcadero.com/DelphiObjectPascalTraining for one of the two sessions (given the length, it was hard to squeeze 3 sessions into a single day) which are at:

  • 6am Pacific - 9am Eastern - 2pm London - 3pm Central Europe - 5pm Moscow - 19:30 New Delhi
  • 2pm Pacific - 5pm Eastern - 10pm London - 7am Tokyo (Dec 18th) - 9am Sydney (Dec 18th)

The online training class is titled "The Ins and Outs of Delphi’s Object Pascal" and its focus is on Delphi's language, with specific focus on features added in recent years. It is not specifically for beginners, but rather for developers who have been using Object Pascal in the past and might not be up-to-date with the recent language features. Even developers who've been staying current with the Embarcadero tools and have occasionally used some of the new features should find a lot of value in the class, which (given the length) goes well beyond the basics.

This is the official class agenda, with some extended comments:

  • The Status of Object Pascal (the overall scenario of the language, the available compilers, OP and other programming languages)
  • Classic Features: Interfaces and Class Operations (a very short roundup of core features that are not as commonly used or significantly different from other languages to be worth underlining; also some "minor" language features added in recent years)
  • Records on Steroids with Methods and Operators (a roundup of records enhancements, how they are different from objects, where they make sense, and some very special purpose records in the RTL)
  • Generics and Anonymous Methods (from generic collections to generic methods and generic types; why anonymous methods are different, how they work internally, and some usage scenarios)
  • 30-minute Break (with a short Q&A session, so the actual break might be shorter -- but we'll deserve it)
  • Reflection and Attributes (from extended RTTI to attributes, and the opportunities opened up by these features in practical terms)
  • Class and Record Helpers, including Intrinsic Type Helpers (how to use them, what should be avoided, and how intrinsic type helpers really change the language perception)
  • Memory Management and ARC (the various models you can use to manage memory with all targets, plus the specifics of ARC and weak references for mobile) 
  • Q&A

Don't miss this unique online class, let me know if you like the idea, and (after attending) if you feel it was worth, how it can be improved, and which other Delphi and C++Builder topics could see similar "extended online classes". Sign up now to reserve your "virtual seat" for next week.