XML: A Primer: Amazon.co.uk: Simon St. Laurent: Books

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Completely revised and updated to cover the latest in emerging Internet technologies, this practical guide will teach you how to build smarter Web sites using XML (eXtensible Markup Language). Whether you're porting data–driven applications or searching for a better way to manage documents on your site, XML^™: A Primer, Second Edition will get you quickly up to speed on this next–generation authoring tool. With new visual examples, clear explanations, and a splash of humor, author Simon St.Laurent shows you how to harness XML's power and flexibility to create intelligent, efficient, easily managed sites. Simon St.Laurent's lucid primer shows you how to:

Create custom tags and Document Type Definitions (DTDs)
Design and manage well–formed documents
Explore the emerging XLink proposals for linking pages
Learn about W3C's conversion of HTML into XML modules
Use XML for literate programming and metadata applications
Build a customizable online catalog
Integrate XML with the latest CSS2 specifications and Dynamic HTML

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From the Author

Introducing XML to HTML Developers
HTML developers need to prepare for yet another revolution. XML is far more than a flexible version of HTML that lets you choose your own tags - XML will change the way web developers, database designers, and client-server programmers work.

This guide to XML shows developers how XML fits into the current landscape of emerging standards. It presents a complete guide to the syntax of XML, explaining how to create well-formed and valid XML documents. Style sheets, including the Cascading Style Sheets standard, are applied to XML documents to create documents that are attractive to humans as well as to computers. Document Type Declarations (DTDs) receive extensive coverage, with several chapters exploring their application through well-documented examples. XML: A Primer presents DTDs suited to a variety of tasks, including document management, EDI, device control, and traditional web page development.

Although XML's origins are in the world of SGML, it is a far simpler and cleaner standard. This book invites HTML developers without any background in SGML to explore the new world of XML. Rather than discussing standards abstractly, XML:A Primer presents step-by-step examples that don't assume prior knowledge of SGML.

XML standards are still in flux, and applications that can harness its power are in the works. This book focuses on the basics, using available standards to show developers how to apply XML solutions to real-world projects.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Conversational. I didn't find what I was looking for. 29 July 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I am looking for a book that explains what XML is, what it should be used for, and details. In this book I found discussions of HTML, XML, and SGML, and the pros and cons of various styles, but I did not find the overview I needed nor the details. I like to read books that get right to the point. (I also like to read unix(tm)-style manual pages). Although this book has lots of usefull content, I did not find what I was looking for.

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very readable introduction to XML 1 Mar 2002

By Neil Ford

If you need to know about XML but don't necessarily have to dive straight into heavy duty coding then this book is probably what you are looking for. Its extremely well written and gently introduces XML in the context of its anticedents and environment (SGML, HTML XHTML, XSL etc ). The scope of the book seems wide and certainly covers as much as I need to be getting on with writing ant build scripts and validating them with a DTD. I appreciated with broad treatment of XML and its context in the initial chapters which set the scene for the meatier sections.

Most readable overall intro to XML.. 21 Mar 1999

This is one of the few techno books I've read that is actually enjoyable as well as informative. It may be a little light in some areas (e.g. XSL and XML schemas instead of DTDs) but these can be gotten from other sources.

good good good good good good good good good good good

I like it. Thank you, Simon, for giving me a conceptual and useful knowledge of XML. The book gave me a real feeling for what XML can do and made me excited that this technology... Read more

Published on 10 Feb 1999

quick and to the point xml

compared to other xml books i've started and stopped due to unreadability, St. Laurent's book was readable, and presented a straight-forward look at the most pertinant features of... Read more

Published on 23 Jan 1999

Don't waste your time

This book takes a very long winded round about way of explaining XML. I admit I only read 70 pages but learned almost nothing. The book is a waste of time.

Published on 26 Dec 1998

Blown out of proportion

This book is filled with too many code snippets and references to HTML and SGML. I found myself constantly skipping pages in an attempt to get to any valuable information about... Read more

Published on 23 Dec 1998

Happy with content, but....

I found St. Laurent's book interesting with good coverage of the XML/DTD paradigm. Unfortunately, my attempt at executing several of the examples proved. Read more

Published on 27 Oct 1998

XML Concepts

This book is a great place to start if you want to get a rough idea of what XML is. I was expecting more technical details, but it seems that there aren't any (at least for those... Read more

Published on 8 July 1998

Excellent Book

I have to say, this is one of the best books on XML I have seen. It's at just the right level of difficulty for people starting to learn about XML, and yet goes into much detail... Read more

Published on 28 Jun 1998

Rushed to Press

My problem isn't so much with the content (which does tend to get ahead of itself in places... using terms that haven't been fully explained beyond expanding the acronym) as it is... Read more

Published on 17 Jun 1998

Good level, examples for beginner. Best I've found so far.

Pros: Provides XML at a beginner's level concisely. Good examples. Excellent references to web resources (brave guy - writes URLs with real ink)

Cons: Typesetting/composition... Read more

Published on 20 May 1998

XML: A Primer [Paperback]

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