November 4, 2006
Over the last wweek there have been a few interesting technical posts in DevCo blogs... by Allen, Steve, and Nick.
While blogs often cover products evolution and features, the last week has seen a number of interesting technical / instructional posts by R&D members and product managers at DevCo. Allen Bauer made 3 blog entries covering exceptions and related issues, Steve Trefethen posted a video on Code Completion and related topics, Nick Hodges a video covering some recent features of the VCL, like margins and paddings. Here is the list of links:
I've been busy this week, plus my kids have been home from school for two days of holiday... that's why I didn't blog earlier and I'm catching up now. I find Allen's technical posts referenced above particularly interesting. He mentions facts that are indeed not very well known, like the destructor being called in case a constructor fails. I've seen many programs break because of this. On the other hand, my books (including my free online ones) cover the other features discussed. Which brings me to two questions:
- a feature discussed only in my books get hidden and buried... if there any other way for me to spread the word, while making at least some money?
- truly, a video can be worth a thousand words...
posted by
marcocantu @ 6:46PM | 2 Comments
[0 Pending]
DevCo Tech Blogs: Exceptions, Code Completion, VCL Stuff
"He mentions facts that are indeed not very well
known, like the destructor being called in case a
constructor fails. I've seen many programs break
because of this"
It's ironic that these facts "not very well known"
are *very well documented*, even in the online help,
and AFAIK date back to Turbo Pascal with Objects.
Topic: Constructors
"If an exception is raised during execution of a
constructor that was invoked on a class reference,
the Destroy destructor is automatically called to
destroy the unfinished object."
Topic: Destructors
"When an exception is raised during creation of an
object, Destroy is automatically called to dispose
of the unfinished object. This means that Destroy
must be prepared to dispose of partially constructed
objects."
It's a pity to see how many Delphi developers didn't
ever care to give a read to the documentation and
work using beginners books, second-hand informations
and "trial-and-error" approaches only. Building
robust applications does not need a VM between your
app and the OS. It needs a brain, and learning.
I understand many books aimed at beginners won't
explain constructors in depth. But once one mastered
the basics, it's time to revisit all features in
depth.
I didn't like Borland removed printed documentation
from the box. Fundamentals like those should be
available on printed manuals, easier to read.
And if developers don't read them, well, they must
blame themsevelves only when writing broken
applications.
"a feature discussed only in my books get hidden and
buried... if there any other way for me to spread
the word, while making at least some money?"
Well, with the Interner is getting more and more
difficult to mak money "selling informations". There
are many free sources, although the reliability of
many of them is very low. It looks only a bunch of
people is willing to pay for good and reliable
sources. Most people like to be paid for their work,
but don't like to pay for others'.
Maybe DevCo. could set up a Delphi Wiki and
pay "gurus" to feed it with such kind of infos.
Comment by Kent Morwath on November 5, 19:25
DevCo Tech Blogs: Exceptions, Code Completion, VCL Stuff
Marco,
As for making some money, perhaps video-casts?
What are the Delphi users' needs today? (I do
ASP.NET using VB.NET, but still miss my Delphi days).
Conversion of Delphi to Delphi.NET? Migrating from
D5 to D-whatever? Refactoring? Salvaging companies
who don't know what to do with their big mess of
Delphi 5 code?
Comment by Steve on November 7, 23:30
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