> Q: What was the first computer language you used?
> A: Basic on the Commodore 64 followed by assembly language and Pascal.
I've also used rexx on the OS/2, Borland's old ObjectVision product, etc
>
> Q: Did you ever use Pascal, if so what versions?
> A: Yes, several versions. On the PC platform I used Pascal With Objects
7.0.
I went through several generic Pascal programming books with it, but
never really created anything good in Pascal. That is, until Delphi came out.
>
> Q: What version of Delphi did you use first?
> A: I first started using Delphi back when I worked for Borland and had to
> support it. That was the beta for 1.0. I've used it ever since.
>
> Q: What is it you like about Delphi the most?
> A: That it is truly Object Oriented. I realize many programmers use and
> program Delphi as if it were a super Paradox or super Access. It isn't.
It is a true compiled development environment which fully utilizes OO concepts.
To become good at Delphi (or to use Delphi in the way it was intended), you
must become an OO programmer. When you do this, you realize the tool becomes
less important and the design and architecture of your application becomes the
> focal point. I also appreciate the sleek sophisticated development environment.
>
> Q: What do you dislike about Delphi the most?
> A: That it isn't available on other platforms. As a software developer, I
> wish I could port my applications to other platforms (Unix and Mac for
> example) and I haven't done so yet because my Windows development tool of
> choice is only available for Windows.
>
> Q: Do you have any advice to new users of Delphi?
> A: Yes, learn object oriented programming. This include concepts,
techniques,
> and system architecture. Especially focus in on class creation,
inheritance,
> business objects, and patterns. Usually new programmers focus in on
syntax
> and specific tasks. These are important, but are only the beginning to
> learning how to program well.
>
> Q: Have you ever programmed with C/C++, if you have what do you think of
> it as a programming language?
> A: C sucks because it is a procedural language. It isn't OO. C++ is great
> because it is truly OO. In fact, it is more OO then ObjectPASCAL
supporting
> such features as multiple inheritance. Programmers complain about the
terse
> nature of C++, but I don't see it that way. Yes you can make your code in
C++
> very terse, but you don't have to. The only time terse C++ code is called
for
> is when you are trying to show off. Really good C++ programmers write
very
> easy to read code. At this point, I'm not a C++ programmer but can follow
the
> code and do simple stuff.
>
> Q: Have you ever programmed with Visual Basic,  if you have what do you
think
> of it as a programming language?
> A: Yes a little. My brother Brian Prestwood is an extremely talented VB
> consultant and we sometimes swap an hour of Delphi training for an hour
of VB
> training. As for the VB language, it was intended to give basic
programmers a
> way to develop full fledged applications. It has done that very well. In
> fact, so well that many companies use it. As a Paradox and Delphi
programmer,
> VB has many problems and short comings. It's a good tool, but I think it
is
> NOT particularly strong as a database product (component binding issues)
and
> it isn't particularly strong as a development tool (not OO).
>
> Q: How many years have you spent using Paradox?
> A: Since the beta for Paradox for Windows. I never used Paradox for DOS
> extensively (just simple stuff).
>
> Q: You are the author of five Paradox for Windows books, please tell us
about
> them?
> A: My next book due out in May is titled "Corel Paradox 9 Power
Programming:
> The Official Guide". I'm very excited about it. Corel has pre-purchased
> 30,000 copies to distribute with the developer's version of Paradox 9 and
> Osborne/McGraw-Hill (the publisher) is distributing 55,000 flyers (most
of
> which will go in the English version of Paradox). This represents a
> wonderfull opportunity for my company. You can't pay for advertising like
> that. This book is a little different than my other books. It is shorter
(600
> pages) and does not come with a CD. It does cover new information
including
> charts, graphs, application framework, runtime, distribution expert, and
the
> internet.
>
> My other books have all sold out and will not be reprinted. They are
"Paradox
> 7 Programming Unleashed", "What Every Paradox 5 for Windows Programmer
Should
> Know" (co-author), "Paradox 5 for Windows Developer's Guide", and my
first
> book "What Every Paradox for Windows Programmer Should Know".

> Q: What would be the main reason you think a person would want to
purchase
> these books?
> A: Anytime a book can save you a few hours of your time, then it is worth
> purchasing. I can garantee all of my books will save programmers of all
> levels many many hours.
>
> Q: Why did you decide to put your latest book on internet for people to
> read and download?
> A: The main reasons are to allow programmers to search it and to promote
> Paradox. Since, it can be hard to find information in any programming
book
> larger than 200 pages. I think it will be nice for Paradox programmers to
> have the search page bookmarked and when they get stuck programming in
> Paradox, go and search the book. I really don't think this will decrease
> sales, in fact, I think it will increase sales. There is something nice
about
> flipping through a real book. Besides, a book is easier to take to the
park
> than the internet.
>
> Q: You give programming support  for  Paradox,  Delphi,  VB and C++,
please
> tell us about it?
> A: The consulting we do falls into two categories: support and
application
> development. Our support is unique in that you or your company are
assigned a
> talented working programmer. That programmer gets to know you, your
business,
> and your application. He is also available to farm out pieces of work to
when
> you get too busy. Our application development is just like anybody
else's.
> Because we hire only the best programmers and use PCC (our coding
convention)
> and PSDM (our software development methodology), the software we develop
has
> a good architecture and is well documented.

> Q: Do you think Borlands/Inprise BDE needs improvements, if so what
> improvements?
> A: I like the path they've taken with the BDE. Where there is improvement
> needed is in not using the BDE. I wish Delphi and C++Builder would come
out
> with an easy to use database that doesn't require the BDE. Just like the
> FlashFiler product, but from Inprise and built into the product. This
would
> help with the development of commercial database applications.
>
> Q: People are complaining about problems with Corels applications
(Paradox,
> BDE) and Borlands (Inprise) BDE conflicting, what do you think is the
> problem, do
> you have an answer to this problem?
> A: There is no such thing as a Paradox BDE. The BDE belongs to Inprise
and
> any problems with various versions of the BDE are Inprise's problem. With
> that said, I'm not aware of any problems. In other words, I believe the
> problems are mostly related to perception. The BDE/IDAPI/ODAPI has always
> been backwards compatible and the intallation programs (with the
exception of
> the original Quattro Pro 1.0 installation) takes care of not overwriting
new
> files. So the only way this should be a problem is if someone manually
copies
> BDE files from one machine to another. If I'm wrong or don't understand
the
> problem correctly, I hope someone will let me know. The bottom line is
that
> you should always be using the latest BDE and you can get the latest
version
> free of charge from the Inprise site.
>
> Q: Since you know Paradox and Delphi very well, which do you recommend
for
> new programmers?
> A: Both development environments are powerful and make creating business
> database applications easy. If the new programmer is or wants to be an OO
> developer, then the clear choice is Delphi. Paradox is object-based and
does
> not support most of the OO features. If the new programmer knows nothing
> about OO and simply wants to create applications for their business, then
I
> recommend Paradox. If Paradox compiled to an EXE, supported visual
> inheritance and the creation of classes with full inheritance support,
then
> Paradox would be a good competitor of Delphi even to OO developers.
>
> Q: How can people contact you?
> A: Anybody can contact me by sending email to me. My email address is
> [email protected].
>
> Q: Do you have a web site? (Please tell us about it)
> A: My personal site is www.prestwood.com/mike. In addition to that
personal
> site, my company has several sites with the main two being prestwood.net
and
> prestwood.com.
>
> Q: What is the difference between 'http://prestwood.com/' and
> http://prestwood.net
> A: Our main business site with all our products and services listed is
> prestwood.net. We use prestwood.com for pretty much everything else. We
> consider prestwood.com to be our free world wide internet environment
> complete with forums, discussion groups, chat rooms, and a mall.
>
> Q: Do you have programming code or examples on your web site?
> A: Yes, on prestwood.net we have PCC (our coding convention) and PSDM
(our
> software development methodology). These are free programming documents
made
> available to programmers. The rest of our examples are on prestwood.com
in
> the various forums.
>
> Q: You have a Programmer Survey on your site at:
> http://prestwood.com/forums/programming/survey/
> What is the purpose of this survey? What do you hope to learn form this
> survey?
> A: The main purpose started out as a way to collect information for my
next
> book. It turned out that the new book doesn't have room for it, so I
decided
> to post the information on prestwood.com (with no names of course). We
plan
> to post summary data primarily in the form of charts. For example, a
chart
> showing how many Paradox programmers went on to use Delphi or Visual
Basic.
> What percentage of programmers that have ever used Paradox still use it.
> Questions like that.
>
> Q: What predictions do you have about the future of computer
> programming?
> A: Many programming forecasters predict that some day programmers will be
a
> thing of the past. When Cobol first came out, many said Cobol was the end
of
> programmers. They believed that Cobol was so easy that any businessman
could
> simply write in english what they wanted the computer to do. That line of
> thought seems so naive now. I definately think programming will become
easier
> and easier, but I think it will eventually parallel the electronics
industry.
> In electronics, you put systems together by buying various components and
> figuring out how they interface and work together. I believe the future
of
> programming will go down that path. You already see that a bit with DLLs,
> OCX/ActiveX components, Delphi components, etc., but it is still in it's
> infancy. For example, you can't use a Windows DLL on a Macintosh. Corba
looks
> promising in this respect.
>
> Q: What projects are you currently involved with?
> A: I have two major software development projects going on right now. My
main
> client is Empire Telecommunications based in New York. I'm developing a
> Paradox 8 application using Paradox's Application Framework. That is
going
> very well. Also, I'm developing a new software product for Prestwood
Software
> & Consulting using Delphi 4. It's current name is HealthTracker although
that
> may change depending on if the name is available. Basically, this
software
> will help you keep track of nutrition (what you eat), supplements (the
pills
> you take), exercise (aerobic and resistance), and mental exercises (for
those
> of us that like to keep learning). This product will be available 3rd
quarter
> of 1999.
>
> Q: Many rumors are going around about Delphi or Inprise/Borland not
> surviving the next few years, what do you think about these comments?
> A: I'm not too worried about it. Let's assume the worst case scenario of
> Inprise having to call it quits. What do you think will happen to the
core
> products? They will be sold of course. Delphi is a core product like no
> other. Even if Microsoft purchased Inprise, they wouldn't kill Delphi.
They
> might kill C++Builder and resurface as part of Visual C++, but they
wouldn't
> kill Delphi. That's the worst case scenario I can imagine. Even if Delphi
> does die, I'm an OO programmer and, to me, the tool is less important
then
> the design and architecture. Yes, it would be a big task to learn the
> specific syntax of a new development environment, but let's face it. A
> "while" loop is a "while" loop in any language.  Public and private
interface
> is the same in all truely OO development products. With all that said,
the
> bottom line is that Delphi is a great product and great products don't
die.
> They do sometimes get sold however.
 
 

  Mike Prestwood
  President
  Prestwood
  Enterprises
  Prestwood
  Software &
  Consulting
                <[email protected]>
                HTML Mail
  5220 Copper
  Ridge Way
  Antelope
  CA
  95843
  USA
                Pager: http://www.prestwood.net