Few programs emerge full-grown and ready to take on the world. It’s a standing joke in the industry to never expect perfection before Version 3.0 - and don’t even think of using version 1.0! Getting software ready involves some compromises, often ending up in rushing products to market too early...

Despite the way the industry may look at times, software is big business. And businesses need cash flow. For example, let’s say you’ve written the greatest program since the spreadsheet, got it out there, and sold a million copies. Then what? Companies hate that part. You have a product to...

Featuritis: (Noun); excessive or unusual number of bells and whistles, often just for the fun of it. How many readers enjoy gadgets? You’re not alone - designers are among the most rabid fans of new things and features. As a programmer, I know the allure of adding ‘just one more...

(originally published in The Borland Developer Network) As part of good programming, assertions in your code are a convenient way to monitor what is happening. This article discusses adding flexibility to assert(), as well as improving your use of it. Some Background on Asserting For many years, I’ve used assert()...

(originally published in The Borland Developer Network) Most RAD tool frameworks provide an easy way to work in Windows. Proof of their effectiveness is that many (if not most) programmers today working in Windows have never dealt with the CreateWindow() function, or crafted a switch/case statement for a Windows messaging...

(originally published in The Borland Developer Network) Paths are a little-used method of creating some very interesting effects in Windows. While typically complicated to program, Builder (and in particular the TCanvas object) makes using these functions very straightforward, providing the convenience of RAD with the power of direct API calls...

(originally published in The Borland Developer Network) Although the TMediaPlayer component in Builder does just about everything I could want, one problem I’ve encountered with it is in recording. This article details how to provide recording support in Builder with the MCI Window interface. Simple Recording? The problem is fairly...

(originally published in The Borland Developer Network) Tray Icon programs are those apps you see with the icon near the clock, such as the volume control, or DeskMenu. While putting the icon in the try is fairly easy, the details of putting together a program that works properly is not...

A new maintenance version has come out, fixing a few bugs, and adding a few features (nicest one – pinging is handled better on publishing, so you get the long delay a little later, interfering less). Upgrading is not as simple as the last one, because many more files are...

The advantage of writing a newsletter such as this is that there is no end of stories out there about complicated equipment... I recently purchased an inexpensive DVD player (which may have been part of the problem). While it’s been a delight watching DVD movies, it’s been a major learning...