Professional XML (Programmer to Programmer)

click here for more details, find new or used items

Birbeck, Mark Birbeck, Michael Kay, et al, Kevin Williams, Brian Loesgen, Didier Martin, Stephen Mohr, Nikola Ozu, Bruce Peat, Jonathan Pinnock, Peter Stark

New from £9.90

Used from £1.39

Pages: 750 (Paperback)

ISBN: 1861003110

Pub: WROX Press Ltd

Pub date: 2000-02

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 559613

Editorial 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

Reader Reviews:

A good Reference (1/1 people found this helpful)

As with all Wrox books, this is a huge book covering almost all the areas that XML covers. The authors have tried to be language agnostic (including VB C and Java) and because of this as a Java programmer I prefer the O'Reilly "Java and XML" as being more concise and easier to read (as well as understandably more specific).

Programming language aside, this is a quality book that covers the essential ground work for XML so comprehensively that you may find yourself using XML more widely than you thought possible.

'Curate's Egg' - good in parts. (4/4 people found this helpful)

The title does say "Professional" but then I've read lots of "Professional" books that weren't and lots of "in a nutshell" books that were anything but! Given this, plus the dearth of XML books 3 or 4 months ago, I thought I'd give it a try. Bad choice. Much of the writing IS very technical, and some is just plain goobledegook. Other sections are excellent however, giving very clear explanations of XML - perhaps the best I've read. I believe that my difficulty with this book is not just down to my lack of understanding, but also that some authors are simply better at explaining in print than others. This is the 2nd "multi-author" book I've bought, and the 2nd time I've found such books to be good in some parts, not so good in others. If you can preview this book before you buy, then you should do so - you may be better spending your cash in another direction.

Solid Introduction to XML (0/0 people found this helpful)

I bought this book to evaluate for our development team and have gone back to purchase one per developer. Gives good introduction to all major XML technologies (including SOAP and Web Services) and thoroughly recommended

It doesn't hold your hand but it is a superb reference tool (1/1 people found this helpful)

Over 1,000 pages of in depth explanations of XML including SAX, CSS, XSLT, DTD, XML, Schemas, XLink, XPointer, XPath, e-commerce, BizTalk, SOAP, WAP and WML. Each chapter written by a top professional in the field. A superb reference text. Make sure you get other books too on the latest standards and browser functionality - not all standards make it as far as implementation in a browser!

Too many subjects, too little detail (0/0 people found this helpful)

Having started working on an XML-XSL project from scratch, I bought this book hoping it would help me get started and then form a good reference for the future. Sadly, it fills the drawer of my desk gathering dust.

Although many topics are covered, having read the content, I din't feel I'd acquired sufficient knowledge to actually do anything.

If you are working on a project using XML, XSL and MSXML or similar to parse, read MSDN and get a pocket XSL reference. Lots of examples are the only way to learn XML and XSL.

This book may be useful for those who need to know about the technology, but for everyday use other books are more suitable.