Coding in Delphi

This is a book all about writing Delphi code. It's not about the VCL or database access. It's just about how to use the language in the most effective way to write clean, testable, maintainable Delphi code. It covers a variety of powerful Delphi programming features and techniques including Generics, Interfaces, Exception Handling, Anonymous Methods, Collections, RTTI, Enumerators, Attributes, Dependency Injection and Unit Testing.

Foreword Introduction Acknowledgements Frameworks used in Coding in Delphi Delphi Spring Framework DUnitX Delphi Mocks DSharp 1 Exceptions and Exception Handling 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Structured Exception Handling 1.3 How Not to Use Exceptions 1.4 How to Use Exceptions Properly 1.5 Conclusion 2 Using Interfaces 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Decoupling 2.3 What are Interfaces? 2.4 Interfaces Everywhere 2.5 A Simple Example 2.6 Implementing an Interface 2.7 Some Further Things to Note: 2.8 Interface Inheritance 2.9 Other Things to Think About 2.10 About TInterfacedObject 2.11 How to Actually Use Interfaces 2.12 Why Should You Be Using Interfaces? 3 Understanding Generics 3.1 Generics to the Rescue 3.2 Constraints 3.3 Generic Interfaces 3.4 Generic Methods 3.5 Generic Collections 3.6 Thinking Generically 3.7 A Contrived, Simple Example 3.8 A Practical Example 3.9 Conclusion 3.10 An Interview with Generics 4 Understanding Anonymous Methods 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Definition 4.3 Why? 4.4 Closures 4.5 Standard Declarations 4.6 A Practical Example 4.7 Another, Cooler Example 4.8 Anonymous methods in the RTL 4.9 Predicates 4.10 Conclusion 4.11 An Interview with Anonymous Methods 5 Delphi Collections 5.1 Introduction 5.2 General Notions about Collections 5.3 The Delphi-Provided Collections 5.4 TQueue 5.5 Collections in the Delphi Spring Framework 5.6 Why you should be using the Spring4D Collections 5.7 Conclusion 6 Enumerators in Delphi 6.1 Introduction 6.2 IEnumerator Interface 6.3 Specialized Enumerators 6.4 TEnumerable in Generics.Collections 6.5 Conclusion 7 IEnumerable 7.1 IEnumerable 7.2 Predicates 7.3 An Interview with IEnumerable (IEoT): 8 Run-time Type Information 8.1 Introduction 8.2 TValue 8.3 RTTI on Classes 8.4 Using RTTI to Affect Instances 8.5 General Notes 8.6 RTTI for Non-classes 8.7 Miscellaneous Methods 8.8 RTTI Compiler Directives 8.9 Conclusion 9 Attributes 9.1 Introduction 9.2 What are Attributes 9.3 A Simple Example 9.4 Conclusion 9.5 An Interview with Attributes 10 Using TVirtualInterface 10.1 A Slightly Better TVirtualInterface 10.2 An Actually Useful Example 10.3 ISimpleStub 10.4 TSimpleMock 10.5 Conclusion 11 Introduction to Dependency Injection 11.1 Introduction 11.2 What is a Dependency? 11.3 The Law of Demeter (LoD) 11.4 A Design Example 11.5 Law of Demeter in Delphi 11.6 A Step-by-Step Code Example 11.7 The Dependency Injection Container 11.8 Conclusion 12 A Deeper Look at Dependency Injection 12.1 Optional Dependencies 12.2 Setter Injection 12.3 Method Injection 12.4 The Delphi Spring Container and Service Locator 12.5 Registering via attributes 12.6 ServiceLocator as Anti-pattern 12.7 Dependency Injection Summary 13 Unit Testing 13.1 So What is Unit Testing? 13.2 Why Do Unit Testing? 13.3 Unit Testing in Delphi 13.4 General Rules for Unit Tests 13.5 Test Driven Development 13.6 A Basic Example 14 Testing with an Isolation Framework 14.1 A Quick Review 14.2 Isolation Frameworks for Delphi 14.3 Getting Started 14.4 Conclusion Appendix A: Resources Dependency Injection Unit Testing Source Control Projects General Good Stuff Appendix B: My Delphi Story

Foreword Introduction Acknowledgements Frameworks used in Coding in Delphi Delphi Spring Framework DUnitX Delphi Mocks DSharp 1 Exceptions and Exception Handling 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Structured Exception Handling 1.3 How Not to Use Exceptions 1.4 How to Use Exceptions Properly 1.5 Conclusion 2 Using Interfaces 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Decoupling 2.3 What are Interfaces? 2.4 Interfaces Everywhere 2.5 A Simple Example 2.6 Implementing an Interface 2.7 Some Further Things to Note: 2.8 Interface Inheritance 2.9 Other Things to Think About 2.10 About TInterfacedObject 2.11 How to Actually Use Interfaces 2.12 Why Should You Be Using Interfaces? 3 Understanding Generics 3.1 Generics to the Rescue 3.2 Constraints 3.3 Generic Interfaces 3.4 Generic Methods 3.5 Generic Collections 3.6 Thinking Generically 3.7 A Contrived, Simple Example 3.8 A Practical Example 3.9 Conclusion 3.10 An Interview with Generics 4 Understanding Anonymous Methods 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Definition 4.3 Why? 4.4 Closures 4.5 Standard Declarations 4.6 A Practical Example 4.7 Another, Cooler Example 4.8 Anonymous methods in the RTL 4.9 Predicates 4.10 Conclusion 4.11 An Interview with Anonymous Methods 5 Delphi Collections 5.1 Introduction 5.2 General Notions about Collections 5.3 The Delphi-Provided Collections 5.4 TQueue 5.5 Collections in the Delphi Spring Framework 5.6 Why you should be using the Spring4D Collections 5.7 Conclusion 6 Enumerators in Delphi 6.1 Introduction 6.2 IEnumerator Interface 6.3 Specialized Enumerators 6.4 TEnumerable in Generics.Collections 6.5 Conclusion 7 IEnumerable 7.1 IEnumerable 7.2 Predicates 7.3 An Interview with IEnumerable (IEoT): 8 Run-time Type Information 8.1 Introduction 8.2 TValue 8.3 RTTI on Classes 8.4 Using RTTI to Affect Instances 8.5 General Notes 8.6 RTTI for Non-classes 8.7 Miscellaneous Methods 8.8 RTTI Compiler Directives 8.9 Conclusion 9 Attributes 9.1 Introduction 9.2 What are Attributes 9.3 A Simple Example 9.4 Conclusion 9.5 An Interview with Attributes 10 Using TVirtualInterface 10.1 A Slightly Better TVirtualInterface 10.2 An Actually Useful Example 10.3 ISimpleStub 10.4 TSimpleMock 10.5 Conclusion 11 Introduction to Dependency Injection 11.1 Introduction 11.2 What is a Dependency? 11.3 The Law of Demeter (LoD) 11.4 A Design Example 11.5 Law of Demeter in Delphi 11.6 A Step-by-Step Code Example 11.7 The Dependency Injection Container 11.8 Conclusion 12 A Deeper Look at Dependency Injection 12.1 Optional Dependencies 12.2 Setter Injection 12.3 Method Injection 12.4 The Delphi Spring Container and Service Locator 12.5 Registering via attributes 12.6 ServiceLocator as Anti-pattern 12.7 Dependency Injection Summary 13 Unit Testing 13.1 So What is Unit Testing? 13.2 Why Do Unit Testing? 13.3 Unit Testing in Delphi 13.4 General Rules for Unit Tests 13.5 Test Driven Development 13.6 A Basic Example 14 Testing with an Isolation Framework 14.1 A Quick Review 14.2 Isolation Frameworks for Delphi 14.3 Getting Started 14.4 Conclusion Appendix A: Resources Dependency Injection Unit Testing Source Control Projects General Good Stuff Appendix B: My Delphi Story