Amazon.co.uk Review
With over 1,200 pages,
Professional XML is a comprehensive guide. It makes you wonder if XML has now become too big a subject for a single book. The problem is not so much XML itself but all the related technologies and applications, such as XSLT for transforming XML, SAX for parsing it and SOAP for calling remote procedures using XML messages. Some XML titles, like O'Reilly's
XML in a Nutshell, manage to be more concise by focusing only on the core of XML. The downside with such titles is that you will need further resources in order to get an idea of how XML can usefully be put to work.
Professional XML is better in this respect, because it is more wide ranging and has case studies and examples.
The early sections of the book cover XML basics: syntax, validation using DTDs (Document Type Definitions) and Schema, navigation with XPath and use of XSLT. Next there is a look at programming XML through the DOM (Document Object Model), SAX 2 and through advanced XSLT. An extensive database section includes chapters on data modelling, data binding with the Java-based Castor specification and use of XQuery. The later chapters cover XML applications including SVG for scalable graphics, XSL FO (Formatting Objects) for document presentation, RDF (Resource Description Framework) for transporting meta data, SOAP and finally business-to-business messaging with Microsoft BizTalk server and with UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration).
Professional XML is a detailed if rather dry tour of XML from a developer's perspective. It maintains a fair balance between Java and Microsoft implementations of XML tools. Overall it makes a valuable one-volume resource, although most developers will want to supplement it with more specialist XML titles. --Tim Anderson
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Amazon.co.uk Review
XML--eXtensible Markup Language--is capable of rendering all data transfer and display OS and application agnostic. It's a self-documenting meta-language (used to describe data) implemented as a sub-set of SGML. As the authors of Professional XML explain, to use XML you first define an XML "vocabulary" suitable for your purpose. There are already vocabularies suitable for molecular modelling, commercial data exchange, legal and medical documents and much more. A vocabulary definition is contained in a DTD (Document Type Definition). The authors justify the need for the XML meta language, cover usage and XML document handling via DOM, Document Object Modelling. They don't spare blushes either, freely acknowledging XML problems such as the already perceived need to move from DTDs to the more elegant, XML based Schemas.
While conceptually simple, XML is tricky to implement well in data structures and XML parsers, not least because it's a moving target. The authors cover a wide range of ways to use and implement XML with real-world examples--including heavy coverage of the SAX XML API implemented in Java--but what comes through most clearly in the 1,150 pages of Professional XML is XML's lack of maturity. This is unsurprising: W3C only nailed down the XML 1.0 specification in February, 1998. There is, though, no doubt about the need for, and importance of, XML in a networked world. Whether you are developing for Web or business-to-business applications, you need to understand XML. Professional XML meets this need. --Steve Patient
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