C++ XML [Paperback]

Fabio Arjona Arciniegas (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 073571052X | ISBN-13: 978-0735710528 | Publication Date: August 13, 2001

"C++ XML" is a book exclusively devoted to the power and complexities of integrating XML standards into C++. As a developer, this is a book you cannot miss. "C++ XML" addresses all major standards, toolkits, and types of applications dealing with XML as a format for representing and exchanging data, as well as XML behavior, from a C++ standpoint. It explains the implementation of applications and reusable frameworks for all major XML purposes exclusively using C/C++ parsers and toolkits, such as expat, Xerces, Xalan, libxml2, and Microsoft's MSXML. The high-end theory and examples in this book - such as development of OpenGL applications, Visual Studio Wizards to automate DOM procedures, GIMP extension to interpret XML scripts, and more - and its exclusive C++ orientation - separates this work from any other resource (online and offline). It is a must-have for any programmer interested in a specialized, complete, and detailed view of XML technologies. This book will show you how to master: -All major XML technologies addressed exclusively from the C++ perspective (C++ SAX, DOM, XSLT, Xpath, and more) -Every aspect of efficient server-side, standalone, and client-side C++ development for XML -Extensions to your C++ programs, allowing seamless XML and database integration -Advanced techniques for the development of Windows and graphic Linux XML applications -Important concepts using examples showing applications of C++ libraries and XML (MFC, OpenGL, ODBC, GTK, and more) The CD-ROM included with this book contains: Hundreds of MB of working code, showcasing C++ exclusive applications of all major XML standards and toolkits, including (but not limited to) MSXML, Xerces, Xalan, Xpath, XSLT, SAX 2.0, DOM Level 2, and SOAP. Every line of code in the book is supported by a working program.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

The number of good, general books for XML is considerable and fills the demands of a big portion of the developer community looking for an introduction to the subject. In contrast, important, specialized sectors still crave for a deep and focused coverage of XML on their own terms. I have written this book to fill that need for C++ programmers, focusing on examples and explanations suited to the quirks and power of their every day tools.
~Fabio Arciniegas, July 2001

From the Inside Flap

Featured Book Content

-Exclusive C++ orientation

-MSXML and Xerces C++

-300+ MB of exclusive examples

-All major XML technologies specifically treated under C++ like: SAX, DOM, XPath, XPointer, XSLT

-Advanced C++ only techniques

-Advanced C++ topics such as: Character Representation and Conversion and how it relates to SAX C++ issues, Interface with Expat and other C libraries, ODBC + XML under Visual C++, Relax NG (formerly Trex) under C++

-Complete Real Windows Visual C++ Applications

-C++ Frameworks to speed up your C++ XML Development

-Windows Visual C++ Wizard extensions

-Linux Code templates

-Fully exemplified Interface XML with major C++ Libraries: OpenGL, ODBC, GTK, MFC

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Sams (August 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 073571052X
• ISBN-13: 978-0735710528
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #839,960 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Tries to do way too much in too little space, October 28, 2001

By 

Dan Crevier (Bellevue, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: C++ XML (Paperback)

This book gives a brief introduction to many XML technologies, with short samples in C++. There are some hints of some interesting topics like which sorts of design patterns to apply in different circumstances, and how to manage data structures when working with the DOM. But, most of the book is just a general overview of XML, like any of the other many XML books.

I was able to read this entire book in about 3 hours, and was left wishing there was a lot more depth. I was frustrated to have the author often mention that he couldn't go into potentially interesting details because of "space constraints". What space constraints? "Inside XML" by the same publisher has larger pages, is 4 times longer, and is only $10 more expensive. And, if space was a constraint, I think the author could have saved a lot of space by leaving out things like a chapter describing STL (which is used in only a couple of places in the book). Also, each chapter seemed to use a different sample XML document, complete with DTD. To save space, the author could have used the same sample document in each chapter.

I had also hoped for more coverage of MSXML. It is briefly mentioned in one chapter. The MSDN site is a much better source of information here.

In summary, if you are looking for an introduction to XML and use C++, this book might be good for you (although you'll need more books for more information on the various technologies). But, if you already know something about XML and are looking for more information on how to do use C++ for your XML work, you'll be very disappointed.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The only one on the subject, but far from being perfect, January 5, 2003

By 

Alexander L. Belikoff (NY, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: C++ XML (Paperback)

Although XML is a buzzword du jour, its acceptance in the C++ world
is surprisingly slow, especially in non-Microsoft environments. This
is mostly due to the lack of an accepted and standardized API. The
standardization process is painfully slow and even though there are
a number of publicly available parsers with C++ bindings, they vary in
their approach to XML processing as well as in the minute details that
make them work with some C++ compilers but not with the others.

In such an environment, a book devoted specifically to processing XML
using C++ is mostly welcome. Read below and decide for yourself.

The good:

- the book covers all major XML processing technologies
available for C++ programmers. It provides examples and explains the
difference in various approaches.

- It will not bore you with XML basic description, excessive quoting
of XML standards, or useless hype (99.9% of XML books out there are
plagued with all of the above).

The bad:

- Even though all of the technologies are compared, the comparison is
crammed in the back of the book, after the chapters describing all
of these technologies in great detail. This sounds like a poor
choice, because these technologies are very different from each
other and different tasks require different approaches. A good
overview and comparison of all of those in the beginning would be
much welcome. It would give readers an idea of what technology to
choose.

- Most of the large examples are Windows-oriented.

- Source code for the examples is only available on an attached CD.
It is not available on-line, which is a shame - I though we've
already passed the stage of "proprietary examples." Apart from other
obvious advantages, having examples on-line would facilitate
contribution of patches and improvements from the readers.

- Speaking of the examples on the CD, they are presented in the worst
manner I've ever seen. The examples I've played so far are bundled
with XML parser distribution (each of them!), have plenty of
temporary files around (like editor backups, or files that Visual
C++ produces). Even those examples that are supposed to work in both
UNIX and Windows come with no Makefiles, the source code looks and
feels rather immature (I though, one learns to NOT supply an
identifier to #endif directive during the 1st year of C/C++
education). All in all, each example I've seen so far feels like a
quick hack, hastily cooked up and released without a mere attempt to
make it look presentable. This is really bad, since, given the
scarcity of books on the subject, there will be plenty of people
fighting with the source code from the book.

The bottom-line: this books falls way short of my "golden standard"
(UNIX books by W. Richard Stevens). Nevertheless, it seems to be the
only book on the subject and it does cover all major technologies. If
you need to work with XML in C++ - buy this book. Once a revised
edition is out (or a better book appears), switch to it.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Obscure and unclear, September 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: C++ XML (Paperback)

I bought this book with great expectation but I was dissappointed. The book was more of using the API's. But unfortunately the examples are not very concise and clear. The book does not mention how to utilize the parser and which one is used for the examples in the book is unclear. Its more of hurried combination of code for SAX and DOM and you could be left confused. I personally would recommend some other books on XML even though it might not have C++ since the examples in these books can be easily converted to C++.