Quite an interesting book with some stimulating contributions; some more theoritical, some more application orientated. By the same token, the collection is a little bit neither fish nor fowl. There is a lack of direction and focus overall that to an extent I feel reflects the relatively unprofessionalised character of applied anthropology in Australia. However, this may also be percieved as an advantage becaues many of the ideas presented have a freshness not always apparent in some of the cookie-cutter proffessionalism coming out of the United States.

This book covers introductory Delphi 2 and is therefore dated (hence only 3 stars). Nevertheless, I found it to be an excellent primer on Delphi. The chapters all well written, and the examples are well fleshed out. The source code from the CD runs perfectly. The case study at the end of the book is worth reading for the humor alone.

If you're looking for an advanced book on Delphi look elsewhere. The book is long on words and short on value. You have to trawl for information - the last third of the book is almost entirely taken up with the story of "Ace Breakpoint" detective, which I didn't even find entertaining let alone enlightening. A large amount of the book's text is printed source code (unnecessary when you have it on CD; it just serves as filler). And while every chapter is on a different topic, many are, while Windows related, hardly Delphi specific ("3D Fractal Landscapes", "Drag and Drop the Windows Way" (ie. not the Delphi way) etc.). All this would have been forgiven if the titbits in this book were worthwhile Delphi tips. But although various developers have looked at it, nobody in our office has yet obtained anything useful out of this book. It just sits on a bookshelf now, gathering dust.

You're not going to learn Delphi by reading this book so I wouldn't recommend it for novice programmers. Half the book is spent on internet related code like WinSock, FTP, and OLE. If you're not interested in these topics then you're left with very little else. It covers databases in only 24 pages which is incredibly scant. There is a great deal of filler in this book about Ace Breakpoint who runs a detective agency. It sounds like the author wishes he were writing about something else. Overall the book is far too narrative and reads like a cheap novel. The reader will probably find a few sections of interest and if you find the book at a book sale for around $10, then you might want to give it a try.

I like this book, after feeling i was mastering delphi 3, i bought this book, and now im really understandindig somethings, i newer understod before: FTP, TCP/IP this is a book, mostly targeting at the Delphi 3 advanced users, no beginner book! recommended.

We were trying to replace the heater core, the instructions were foggy to say the least. Further repairs or maintenance just as foggy, its a good book if you have a lot of experience with repairing the vehicle and don't need a how to. Amazingly the "Ford Tempo Mercury Topaz 1984-94" book by Mark Christman, which is by the same company, was a lot better for repairs and maintenance. But neither book helped with replacing the heater core, we eventually used other resources for more ideas on how to actually get to the heater core to get it out.

I've used this book for nearly three years now, and keep wondering why I go back to it. (Actually, it's because it's the only Tempo/Topaz book I own.) I have found several major errors in the illustrations, usually due to showing a 2.0 engine setup as a 2.3 or vice versa. Some instructions, like how to change a water pump, are just plain wrong. Electrical schematics, particularly of the instrument cluster are sketchy to the point of being useless when troubleshooting anything other than a hard failure. I suspect that much of the text in this book was a quickie cut-and-paste job of info that pertained to these same components as installed in other Ford products. It really doesn't do justice to the model-specific problems of navigating the limited space of the engine compartment or tracing an intermittent electrical circuit. Proofreading was spotty at best. It's better than doing a repair job blind, but not by much.

Chilton's Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz Repair Manual 1984-94 is not for the average car owner. It is probably not even for the average mechanic. It is written in difficult language and at times seems to display unnecessarily complicated methods of performing simple tasks. From beginning to index it offers low quality information and instruction. There are too many diagrams and not enough photos. The photos available are poor. Overall this book was not very useful to me. I have used the Haynes manual for the same car and found it much more useful.

Most code samples don't even compile. A third of the book is wasted on some fictional account of an idiotic detective (what does that have to do with Delphi programming??). The technical info is scarce, and there isn't any depth whatsoever. Not worth the effort of opening the package.

Much of the code was ommitted on the CD. The code that is there does not work. There are no updates on the publisher's site as specified in the book. One of the authors who replied to my emails was sympathetic, but was also dissatisfied with the publisher. The chapter on hierarchical databases was the worst offender - and the main reason I bought the book. So much promise, so little gain. However, it was written well and I like the explanations. Raymond Kennington