XML Programming Bible [Paperback]

The second and third sections offer an overview of using XML in Office and J2EE respectively. The fourth section is an overview of interacting with relational data. This part is a light reference into technologies like SQLXML but it should be enough to get you started, such as interacting directly with SQL Sever with FOR XML and updategrams. The book ends with four sections on Web Services. The nice thing about the WebServices sections is that it covers a bunch of technologies used on both .NET and Java/Unix platforms. The coverage of individual technologies isn't deep, but it's enough to understand the basic approach and capabilities of each tool. I don't need this type of information often, but nothing previously on my shelf covered this range of technologies.

This isn't a book for rank XML beginners. It doesn't spend waste explaining well-known fundamentals or the grisly history of schemas. Nor is it an in depth reference on any of the topics it covers. But it captures the depth I need when I'm trying to remember some specific piece of information, need a quick review, or need to dive into something I haven't done before - like working with XML from Excel.

The chapter breakout...
Part 1 - Introducing XML - XML Concepts; XML Documents; XML Data Format and Validation; XML Parsing Concepts; Parsing XML with DOM; Parsing XML with SAX; XSLT Concepts; XSL Transformations; XSL Formatting Objects
Part 2 - Microsoft Office and XML - Microsoft XML Core Services; Working with the MSXML DOM; Generating XML from MS Access Data; Creating an Excel Spreadsheet from an XML Data Source
Part 3 - XML Web Applications Using J2EE - XML Tools for J2EE: IBM, Apache, Sun, and Others; Xerces; Xalan; XML APIs from Sun
Part 4 - Relational Data and XML - Accessing and Formatting XML from SQL Server Data; Accessing and Formatting XML from Oracle Data; Accessing and Formatting XML from DB2; Building XML-Based Web Applications with JDBC; Transforming Relational XML Output into Other Formats
Part 5 - Introducing Web Services - Web Services Concepts; SOAP; WSDL; UDDI; Microsoft Web Services; J2EE Web Services
Part 6 - Microsoft .Net and Web Services - Creating and Deploying .Net Web Services; Accessing .Net Web Services; Building a .Net Web Services Client
Part 7 - Web Services and J2EE - Web Service Tools for J2EE: IBM, Apache, Sun, and Others; Web Services with the Sun Java Web Services Developer Pack; Apache Axis; Access Web Services from Java Applications
Part 8 - Advanced Web Services - Accessing Relational Data via Web Services; Authentication and Security for Web Services; Index

I think I got finger cramps just typing all that! :-)

Seriously, there's really good material here. The assumption is made that you already understand basic XML technology. Benz doesn't spend an inordinate amount of time covering introductory material. Part 1 does do a bit of that, but only enough to establish the basic direction for the rest of the book. There is much more attention paid to XML concepts that come into play for programmers, such as the document object model of XML and how the two types of parsers (DOM and SAX) work. The rest of the book is highly practical, with examples of how to generate or access XML data using a variety of platforms, such as Microsoft Office, .Net, J2EE, Oracle, etc.

For me personally, I appreciate the emphasis on code and working examples. I have always learned more by taking something that works, tearing it apart, and using it as the basis for my own efforts. Benz has provided many examples that provide just that opportunity. Being that he doesn't restrict his writing to a single platform (like .Net or J2EE), this is one of few books that have a cross-over appeal to many technology platforms. If you happen to work in a shop that uses both Microsoft and Java technologies, you'll be able to get a single book that will assist you on both sides of the fence.

Basically, there's nothing I can find fault with for this book. It's solid writing of essential information you need for using XML in your various applications. This is a book that gets my highest recommendation.

Like the original, this bible uses examples to help illustrate the various topics covered in the book. The examples are to the point and pretty easy to understand, and where necessary, some screen shots are provided to help as well. The book also has a very comprehensive listing of methods, their parameters, details of their usage, and what APIs/languages/libraries support them. The contents are well laid out, most of the time you can simply just start skimming and quickly find what your looking for without even visiting the index.

In all honesty, if you have never programmed anything more than a VCR in your life, this book is probably not something that you should start with. However, if you are going to be doing anything XML related then this a very good book to have within arms reach.