How to learn to program in Delphi?

Question

Delphi

In general, I will tell you everything in order. After NG 2016 I started to get interested in programming. First of all, I read what and how, and decided I needed to learn, chose the language to start with - Pascal. I downloaded Turbo Pascal 7.0 and a tutorial from S.N. Lukin. I started to study, a desire appeared, it became interesting how it was to make the computer do actions for you on the machine, in short, it caught fire. I read the whole book, completed all the tasks and abandoned it due to lack of time. In May, I decided to continue. A close language to Pascal is Delphi. Downloaded Delphi XE2 and the book "D.Osipov - Delphi XE2". Started reading. I read about 120 pages, did not understand anything from it. Decided to sign up for courses on Delphi. Passed and graduated. I got acquainted with different types of approaches (structural, procedural, object, component). It seems like OOP passed, worked with classes. But what's the problem I can’t write anything except a beautiful calculator. For example, I wanted to write a text parser and sailed. What where to take, how to use? It seems that I understand that third-party units are needed, but how to use them is not. During the training, I studied HTML on my own, partly CSS. On the advice of one person, I began to read the book "Introduction to the Language Pascal V. G. Abramov, N. P. Trifonov", because he said, if you want to learn how to program normally, start with the console and Pascal, read 82 pages, very boring and tedious. I learned something new, only two operators succ and pred. She's 1988, for me duck too old already. Not very good with English. Now I am studying at the first year, majoring in "Computer systems and complexes". The study will only start after the 1st session, I don't want to waste time and fool around, tell me what you can read in my case, otherwise what book do not take everything is not right, or I already know, or it's too difficult. Like he said everything.

Answer 1

To be honest, you have the wrong opinion about programming. It's just that languages ​​are like tools for a builder, and programming is the building itself. Start with blog schemes and just your project, and the experience will come by itself. Then sit on the forums and solve problems. And books are just developments, just read the news. And come up with a project that you will not be able to do in your life. For example, create a game over the network, etc.

Answer 2

1. Delphi is an unfortunate language for initial learning. Too many ready-made "bricks". Easy to prototype, hard to figure out what's under the hood.
2. They advise Python - not bad. Java. JavaScript. C#. All of these are good languages ​​for beginners.
3. Don't take on complex projects right away. For spoiling the style of writing code. The first programs should be ten lines long. One year out of a hundred. Those. objects to study when they are really needed.
4. Keep in mind that you will have to relearn for anyone. For school and olympiad programming and real programming are two big differences... Since I started studying in my first year, I think you won't reach the industrial style before the third year.
5. Set the base - algorithms. Language is secondary. The language needs to be mastered in a few months. Now they are changing quickly and you need to be in good shape. And algorithms are for a long time. No fast language will fix a slow algorithm.

Answer 3

You should not learn Delphi, the environment is practically dead, and there are a lot of Delphi projects in the enterprise that need to be supported. There are more interesting things, such as C, C++, C#, Java, PHP, Python, Ruby. Many projects have been written on them, and many open ones, and at the same time they are actively developing (except for C).

Answer 4

In programming language is nothing.
In principle, real programming is not just writing some code, but writing a MATHEMATICAL MODEL of a given phenomenon or process in the chosen programming language. Those. first you need to build a matmodel from the technical specification, and then write the code.
In large projects, this is done by analysts and software architects (programmers), then the resulting algorithms are transferred to coders who write code on them. Of course, when you're alone doing a small project, then first you're a programmer and only then a coder.
PS You shouldn't have started with Turbo Pascal, it's wasted time. In real life, TP and Delphi are such different programming languages, like a scooter and a spaceship, if you saw familiar wheels and handles, this does not mean at all that they are similar. Most of those who switched to Delphi from TP continue to code, and then they tell everyone that Delphi is bullshit.
As for me, Embarcodero Delphi was mutilated in the style of Visual Studio. Personally, I write all new projects that are not possible to implement on Delphi 7 on Lazarus

Answer 5

For example, I wanted to write a text parser and sailed.

To do this, you need to study finite automata and formal grammars.
wiki. state machine
wiki. formal grammar
MSU Grammar Guide This is
not all, of course, because there is still a lot to learn in order to simply develop programs (version control system, unit testing, automatic project assembly, UML).
But this is what you will need anyway if you are going to make programs that work with wild texts.

Answer 6

For me, the best book is Neil Rubenking's Delphi 3 for Dummies. True, it is old (that is, not for FireMonkey) and with typos, but if you compare it with "C ++ for dummies", then this is heaven and earth. The author gives a bunch of examples from different areas, the programs themselves are literally 5-10 lines (sometimes longer).
As others have written, algorithms are really important (there are plenty of them in Matlab, and it’s easier to build graphs).
Don't forget to use libraries as well (I like DirectX and DirectShow. But it's easier to include them in C++ as sometimes it's hard to find all the latest header files).

Answer 7

Hey! Why took Delphi?
Yes, I agree, about 10 years ago it was a good option for learning, Pascal, Delphi ....
But now - for learning programming and moreover for perspectives, it is more valuable to recommend learning from the basics even Python, JS, C, C ++, Java, ....
At least take those languages ​​that are most in demand and familiar. Studying them will not complicate your process, it is not at all more difficult than the same delphi, but it is more promising and better for the future.
More precisely, it is more relevant for the near future - and let the base fill up and just learn how to program. The main thing is to understand the meaning and learn to think in terms of programs....