The Tomes of Delphi: Algorithms and Data Structures
03 Oct
Julian Bucknall has made his outstanding book, The Tomes of Delphi: Algorithms and Data Structures, available on lulu.com. This is great news, first because Julian’s book has been out of print, and second, because it will be a great opportunity to show the power of true on-demand publishing.
Here are some things that I hope come out of this:
- I hope that if you think you’d find the book useful, you’d get it for the low, low price of only $25.
- I also hope that Julian reports back on his experience with the whole thing. I think places like lulu.com are the future of book publishing, and I’m curious to hear his comments on how it all goes
- I hope that it inspires other authors to republish other older, out of print materials from the Delphi-sphere. (<cough>Danny Thorpe</cough>).
- I hope that it inspires /new/ authors to publish their content that might work for a big publisher, but that is profitable at the on-demand model that lulu uses.
- What I really hope is that one of those authors will a really fat book will choose to use lulu instead of the traditional publishing houses for their next edition.
Anyway, I’m excited that Julian has done this. If you are so inclined, please do support the effort with a purchase.
I agree. This is a great book and for those lamenting the lack of Delphi publications this is the perfect way to get some of the older publications that are still viable, but out of print, back in production.
October 3rd, 2006 at 8:44 pmGreat news, Nick !
The ‘The Tomes of Delphi’ book is still being sold through Amazon.com :
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1556227361/sr=1-2/qid=1159943427/ref=sr_1_2/102-9704951-1903369?ie=UTF8&s=books
But look at these outrageous prices:
new : $199.94, $199.95 !
used: $198.97, $199.00, $500.00, $741.07 !!!
And if the "<cough>Danny Thorpe</cough>" refers to his ‘Delphi Component Design’ book,
I absolutely agree with you.
Perhaps you, as ‘topdog’ Delphi Product Manager, should just send him an email and ask him.
Ruud Schmeitz
October 4th, 2006 at 12:02 amI just bought it. have been looking for this a long time.
And it’s great to se that a Delphi author taking the Print On Demand way, hopefully more will follow.
You had a great post on your old blog at lemanix.com witch I comment on. I’m not sure (haven’t investigated it in dep’t) but I think using “Lighting Source”, “BookSurge”, etc would be a better option for the author – lulu.com are now taking 20% commission.
But any way this is great – keep the Delphi books coming.
Anders
October 4th, 2006 at 2:26 amAnders Pedersen,
A 20% publisher’s commission is extremely low compared to traditional publishers. With similar sales I’m sure Julian will likely do much better out of selling through Lulu than his previous publisher.
Lachlan
October 4th, 2006 at 3:11 amI teach geology classes at a southern California community college. The Computer Science Department there used to teach programming using Turbo Pascal back in the day.
When the free Turbos came out recently, I asked a colleague in the Computer Science Department if they’ve ever considered teaching a Delphi class. His response was that they evaluated it a few years ago, but decided not to offer it. Their main barrier to offering the course is that he didn’t know of any good introductory programming books based upon Delphi.
Does anyone know of a good introduction to programming book that is based upon Delphi (VCL)? Lulu.com might be a good channel for selling it. I think that such a book would go a long way toward helping the revival of Delphi, particularly if it prompted some colleges to offer courses in it.
October 4th, 2006 at 7:45 amHoly cow! It’s time to dust off my printed copy and sell it on Amazon!
October 4th, 2006 at 2:28 pmGreg,
Here is a beginner book that I know of:
http://www.amazon.com/Introducing-Delphi-Programming-through-Practice/dp/0195789113/sr=1-2/qid=1160106329/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-2806525-8062455?ie=UTF8&s=books
It’s written and used by instructors at South Africa University
October 5th, 2006 at 8:47 pmWhat about publishing BDS documentations on LULU? Sometimes I prefer to have printed versions….
October 9th, 2006 at 3:36 amThat is something I definitely want to look into.
Nick
October 9th, 2006 at 10:34 amThis isn’t meant as an alternative to Bucknall’s book, but some may find it interesting; The Oberon version of Wirth’s Algorithms and Data Structures:
http://www.oberon.ethz.ch/books.html
October 10th, 2006 at 10:16 amI received my copy today. I ordered it on October 4th, and it was shipped on 10th. Not bad, for a book that has to be printed. Being in EU, the book was printed and shipped from Spain. The shipping fees were 8 euro, an average price for this kind of items.
October 14th, 2006 at 6:27 amThe book overall quality is good, and the price fair. Looking forward for other books