Lazarus

Programming => General => Topic started by: norm on January 14, 2021, 05:38:32 am

Title: Translated Textbook
Post by: norm on January 14, 2021, 05:38:32 am
I translated a Russian college level textbook into English that I would like to share with everyone (for free, of course). The textbook ( "Free Pascal and Lazarus", by Alexeyev, Chesnokova and Kucher) was published in 2010 and is quite comprehensive, weighing in at 440 pages.

It has plenty of reference material and tons of worked examples. Chapters include: Introduction, General information about Free Pascal, Flow Control, Subprograms, Working with arrays, Working with matrices, Working with files, Working with strings and records, Object-oriented programming and Graphics. Each chapter is accompanied by 25 exercise problems.

The original text was published under a GNU FDL license.

I would appreciate feedback about typos, odd sounding translation, unintelligible translation(!), etc, which inevitably creep into such efforts, as the translator tires in the wee hours of the night (morning)!

Anyone interested in taking a look can email me, as I put the finishing touches on the index at the back, etc.  Thank you.   
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: speter on January 14, 2021, 06:17:37 am
This sounds excellent. Well done!

I would that you contact the authors &/or the publisher to get their ok, before distributing it widely - even if the license allows you to do that. You never know, the publisher may even be prepared to pay you something for the translation.

cheers
S.
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: norm on January 14, 2021, 06:34:25 am
I agree (about getting publisher's blessings), and will set out on that "journey" as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, some feedback would be most helpful. One of the things I would like to hear about would be the value of such a publication in furthering the interests of the Lazarus / Free Pascal community. There is hardly a comprehensive free textbook on Lazarus out there, and I believe this textbook would help new users significantly.

Pay? Am not interested. I am close to retirement after a long career as a civil engineer, during which I used Lazarus for several small in-house projects. This is about giving back to the community only.

When I contact the publishers, I would like to let them know that their book would be a big help to the Lazarus community - which is one way in which feedback could be very useful here.

Thanks,
Norm
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: speter on January 14, 2021, 11:33:41 am
One way to gain more interest might be to attach a PDF of the Table of Contents to a forum post. That should allow people to get an idea of the range of topics (and hopefully the number of pages dedicated to each topic).

cheers
S.
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: lucamar on January 14, 2021, 03:41:50 pm
Quote from: speter on January 14, 2021, 06:17:37 am
I would that you contact the authors &/or the publisher to get their ok, before distributing it widely - even if the license allows you to do that.
Quote from: norm on January 14, 2021, 06:34:25 am
I agree (about getting publisher's blessings), and will set out on that "journey" as soon as possible.

If the text is really under a FDL and you're using that text for your translation I'd rather suggest that contacting either the authors or the publisher is not a good step. People do use those licenses to let you know aforetime what their response would be and, so, avoid having to respond to such solicitations, among other things.

Unless there is a explicit suggestion that they'd like to know whether there is any translation or derived work done (as used to ask e.g. Cory Doctorow), of course.
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: norm on January 15, 2021, 05:22:35 am
I think the authors and publishers would be surprised that their book stirred interest outside of Russia, and that someone thought it was worth the effort to translate it, to English, no less! If they see an opportunity to market it profitably, then that can only be good for the open source community.

I agree with lucamar that the GNU FDL license could be reasonably interpreted to mean that the publisher doesn't want to "respond to such solicitations", and there was no "explicit suggestion that they'd like to know whether there is any translation or derived work done".

Here is an excerpt from the license text:

Quote
The material in this book is distributed under the GNU FDL License. The book contains the following text on the first page after the cover: <<In the series: ALT Linux Library>>. The title is: <<Free Pascal and Lazarus: A Textbook on Programming>>. The book does not contain invariant sections.

On the other hand, I like speter's suggestion to contact the authors, even if as a courtesy only.

Thanks!

Norm






 

 
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: norm on January 23, 2021, 10:49:02 am
The temporary link to this work in progress is https://www.plainwater.com/pubs/FPLazarus.pdf (https://www.plainwater.com/pubs/FPLazarus.pdf).
The translation is complete, and the book is now undergoing technical, clerical, formatting and other reviews.

The translated book, which is a 440-page beginner to intermediate junior college level textbook, is filled with plenty of illustrative and useful examples, and is being released to the public for free under its current GNU FDL license.

A follow-up textbook, based on the translated textbook, will add modern topics, including streams, interfaces, etc, and will expand on other topics, such as graphics. That too will be released under an open source license.

A big "Thank you" to all the forum members who are already providing tremendous assistance.

Your comments and feedback would be most welcome!   
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: lucamar on January 23, 2021, 11:34:26 am
And a big "Thank You" to you for making available this resource. Looks like a good work. :)
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: bobonwhidbey on January 23, 2021, 07:42:41 pm
Fantastic job Norm. Thank you.
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: GAN on January 23, 2021, 10:41:01 pm
Great work, thank you very much.
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: dbannon on January 23, 2021, 11:54:56 pm
Its really an excellent book !  A real credit to the original authors and to its translator who managed to keep it all together.

It concentrates on FP with only small sections on Lazarus and OOP and that is perhaps a good thing, Lazarus has changed a bit since 2010, FPC not quite so much.  Compared to the standard text we normally use and point beginners to, its very, very readable. I put that down to it being written a little less formally with less emphasis on formal computer science constructs and more on well chosen words and examples.  Looking forward to seeing the follow up. 

I would strongly recommend some way be found for a permanent link on the wiki so new users can be directed to it.

Great job Norm, a great job !

Davo
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: norm on March 07, 2021, 12:57:20 am
Thanks for the kind words, dbannon.

The book is finally done - for now, at least!

Download the PDF version from https://www.plainwater.com/pubs/FPLazarus.pdf (https://www.plainwater.com/pubs/FPLazarus.pdf). Get the epub version from https://www.plainwater.com/pubs/FPLazarus.epub (https://www.plainwater.com/pubs/FPLazarus.epub).

I wish to thank forum members wp (technical and other comments), trev (many valuable hours of proofreading and editing) and howardpc (formatting tips). Their immediate and determined assistance bodes well for Freepascal and Lazarus. Any flaws remaining after these guys pitched in are all mine!

I also wish to thank the LibreOffice team. LibreOffice 7.1 turned out to be far more capable and reliable for creating a book than I thought. If it is less capable than MS Word in this respect, it cannot be by much.

Now I can finally print my own copy and have it at hand when needed. I hope this work helps to fill some of documentation gaps for newer users and proves to be a good companion to those who prefer books, like I do.

Feedback is always welcome.
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: wp on March 07, 2021, 10:43:48 am
Very impressive, really!

A few remarks:
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: norm on March 07, 2021, 09:13:23 pm
Thanks, wp.

I agree that "PolyGon" looks wrong. I ill change that to "Polygon", and apply the LibreOffice style to fix the formatting issue.
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: engkin on March 07, 2021, 10:05:52 pm
The code on Page 362 has wrong alignment for part of class TForm1.
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: norm on March 07, 2021, 10:19:27 pm
Thanks, engkin.

Here is what I think it should be. Please let me know if I did not get it right, or if it could be better.

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]
  1. unit Unit1;
  2. interface
  3. uses
  4.     Classes, SysUtils, LResources, Forms, Controls, Graphics,
  5.     Dialogs, StdCtrls;
  6. type
  7. {TForm1}
  8.     // Declare the form class TForm1
  9.     TForm1 = [b]class[/b](TForm)
  10.         // Declare the button component Button1
  11.         Button1: TButton;
  12.         // Declare the event handler for clicking on Button1
  13.         procedure Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
  14.     private
  15.         {private declarations}
  16.     public
  17.         {public declarations}
  18. end;
  19.  
  20. var
  21.     // Declare the class variable for the form (TForm1)
  22.     Form1: TForm1;
  23. implementation
  24.     {TForm1}
  25.     // Event handler for clicking on Button1
  26. procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
  27. begin
  28.     // The text of the event handling procedure
  29. end;
  30.  
  31. end.
  32.  

Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: engkin on March 07, 2021, 10:35:00 pm
I am not by a computer, but meanwhile Lazarus can format the code using Ctrl+D.
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: norm on March 07, 2021, 10:39:27 pm
OK. I will use that lead and look at how Lazarus does it.
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: engkin on March 07, 2021, 11:01:53 pm
If you don't mind me asking, how good are you with the material presented in this book?
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: norm on March 07, 2021, 11:15:13 pm
I don't mind at all.

If your question is "How good am I at Free Pascal and Lazarus?" my response would be "good, but not an expert". I am a civil engineer. My interest is in applying Free Pascal / Lazarus to practical problems.

Nevertheless, I have learnt over time the importance of respecting the practices of other disciplines.  So, I am more than happy to listen to the experts, and everyone else. I want this book to be as useful as possible to as many persons as possible!

I am quite familiar, however, with the math and algorithm development content of the book.
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: norm on March 08, 2021, 12:06:03 am
I applied Ctrl+D in Lazarus to the code at the bottom of Page 362 and its continuation on all the way to Page 366, but it left justified most of the code, except for code at the very beginning of the listing.

It does not look like an improvement on the formatting currently on Page 362, or on code readability overall. :)
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: aredirect on February 03, 2022, 03:29:32 pm
This link https://plainwater.com/pubs/FPLazarus.pdf gives error, anyone has the PDF or if it can be attached to the thread?
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: avra on February 11, 2022, 08:22:29 am
Quote from: aredirect on February 03, 2022, 03:29:32 pm
This link https://plainwater.com/pubs/FPLazarus.pdf gives error, anyone has the PDF or if it can be attached to the thread?
https://www.scribd.com/document/522942476/Fp-Lazarus

I wonder if example code can be downloaded from somewhere?
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: rjk100 on February 14, 2022, 11:26:48 pm
Quote from: avra on February 11, 2022, 08:22:29 am
Quote from: aredirect on February 03, 2022, 03:29:32 pm
This link https://plainwater.com/pubs/FPLazarus.pdf gives error, anyone has the PDF or if it can be attached to the thread?
https://www.scribd.com/document/522942476/Fp-Lazarus

I wonder if example code can be downloaded from somewhere?

The scribd link requires a login and then a credit card to access a free trial. Is the download available anywhere else?
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: winni on February 14, 2022, 11:45:28 pm
Hi!

The original russian version is here:

http://www.freepascal.ru/download/book/tutorial_fpc&lazarus.pdf (http://www.freepascal.ru/download/book/tutorial_fpc&lazarus.pdf)

Winni
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: winni on February 14, 2022, 11:48:34 pm

See:

https://forum.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php/topic,52863.msg390613.html#msg390613 (https://forum.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php/topic,52863.msg390613.html#msg390613)
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: rjk100 on February 15, 2022, 12:56:29 am
Quote from: winni on February 14, 2022, 11:45:28 pm
Hi!

The original russian version is here:

http://www.freepascal.ru/download/book/tutorial_fpc&lazarus.pdf (http://www.freepascal.ru/download/book/tutorial_fpc&lazarus.pdf)

Winni

I’m looking for the English translation.
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: rjk100 on February 15, 2022, 12:58:25 am
Quote from: winni on February 14, 2022, 11:48:34 pm

See:

https://forum.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php/topic,52863.msg390613.html#msg390613 (https://forum.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php/topic,52863.msg390613.html#msg390613)

That just links back to this thread. Still looking for the English translation.
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: dbannon on February 15, 2022, 01:08:58 am
I am quite sure the author intended it to remain free.

I have a copy I downloaded early on. Probably not the most up to date but better than nothing.  Hmm, I cannot upload as a pdf, too big. I'll find somewhere to upload and get back to you .

Davo
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: dbannon on February 15, 2022, 01:18:26 am
OK, try here - http://bannons.id.au/downloads/FPLazarus.pdf

Note my website (its not really a website) does not have a certificate so you browser may be unhappy, we'll try something else if thats the case.

Davo
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: rjk100 on February 15, 2022, 01:26:15 am
Download fine. Thank you very much.
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: trev on February 15, 2022, 01:48:45 am
Also available from https://sourceforge.net/p/lazarus-wiki-projects/code/ci/master/tree/FPC_Lazarus_Textbook/ (PDF only - Wiki link updated to this link)
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: avra on February 15, 2022, 02:07:55 am
Quote from: rjk100 on February 14, 2022, 11:26:48 pm
Quote from: avra on February 11, 2022, 08:22:29 am
Quote from: aredirect on February 03, 2022, 03:29:32 pm
This link https://plainwater.com/pubs/FPLazarus.pdf gives error, anyone has the PDF or if it can be attached to the thread?
https://www.scribd.com/document/522942476/Fp-Lazarus

I wonder if example code can be downloaded from somewhere?

The scribd link requires a login and then a credit card to access a free trial. Is the download available anywhere else?

If you register and upload 3 documents, you can download 1 for free. I downloaded without any payment. If you have a better link you're welcome to share it.

EDIT:
Quote from: trev on February 15, 2022, 01:48:45 am
Also available from https://sourceforge.net/p/lazarus-wiki-projects/code/ci/master/tree/FPC_Lazarus_Textbook/ (PDF only - Wiki link updated to this link)
Yes, that's much better. Thanks! Now that link can be added to wiki. Still looking for examples download link...
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: dbannon on February 15, 2022, 03:24:28 am
Quote from: rjk100 on February 15, 2022, 01:26:15 am
Download fine. Thank you very much.

I suggest you compare it to the one Trev posted, mine is quite old ....

Davo
Title: Re: Translated Textbook
Post by: rjk100 on February 15, 2022, 06:06:54 am
Quote from: dbannon on February 15, 2022, 03:24:28 am
Quote from: rjk100 on February 15, 2022, 01:26:15 am
Download fine. Thank you very much.

I suggest you compare it to the one Trev posted, mine is quite old ....

Davo

As far as I can see the content in both files is identical.
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