Cocoon: Building XML Applications [Paperback]

Carsten Ziegeler (Author), Matthew Langham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 24, 2002

Cocoon: Building XML Applications is the guide to the Apache Cocoon project. The book contains the much needed documentation on the Cocoon project, but it does not limit itself to just being a developer's handbook. The book motivates the use of XML and XML software (in particular open source software). It contains everything a beginner needs to get going with Cocoon as well as the detailed information a developer needs to develop new and exciting components to extend the XML publishing framework. Although each chapter builds upon the previous ones, the book is designed so that the chapters can also be read as individual guides to the topics they discuss. Varied "hands-on" examples are used to make the underlying concepts and technologies absolutely clear to anyone starting out with Cocoon. Chapters that detail the author's experience in building Internet applications are used to embed Cocoon into the "real world" and complete the picture. [md]Matthew Langham and Carsten Ziegeler

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Cocoon: Building XML Applications provides a comprehensive guide to the Apache open source project Cocoon. According to the official Cocoon web site, "Apache Cocoon is an XML publishing framework that raises the usage of XML and XSLT technologies for server applications to a new level. Cocoon allows you to define XML documents and transformations to be applied on it, to eventually generate a presentation format of your choice (HTML, PDF, SVG, etc.). Cocoon also gives you the possibility to apply logic to your XML files (so that the XML pipeline can be dynamic)."

In the book, managers will find detailed information on XML and be motivated to employ open source XML software to build modern application architectures. Site administrators will find everything they need to get up and running with Cocoon. In addition, detailed examples will provide the "hands-on" experience of building applications with Cocoon. For those developers interested in extending Cocoon with additional Java components, the book contains detailed information and shows how to develop and deploy Cocoon components. The book is co-authored by a member of the Cocoon development team and covers the recently released version 2.0.

About the Author

About the AuthorsAbout the Authors Matthew Langham was born in England but has lived in Germany since 1976. He has worked in the IT business since the mid-1980s. He wrote his first book on the Internet in 1993 and has since published several articles on the Net and related themes. He currently leads the open-source group at S&N AG, a software company in Paderborn, Germany. Carsten Ziegeler is the chief architect of the open-source competence center at S&N AG, Paderborn, Germany. His main focus is on web application design and object-oriented component development. He has participated in several open-source projects and is actively involved in various Apache communities. In 2001, he took over the role of release manager for the Apache Cocoon project. He has been a committer on the project since 2000 and played a major role in designing the current architecture. About the Technical Reviewers These reviewers contributed their considerable hands-on expertise to the entire development process for Cocoon: Building XML Applications. As this book was being written, these dedicated professionals reviewed all the material for technical content, organization, and flow. Their feedback was critical to ensuring that this book fits our readers' needs for the highest-quality technical information. Marcus Crafter is from Australia and currently works as a software engineer for a Melbourne-based company, ManageSoft Corporation. He has worked extensively with Internet technologies since 1996. He lives in Frankfurt, Germany, where he has been actively involved in various open-source/free software projects, including Apache Cocoon, for the past three years. Torsten Curdt is the CTO of dff internet & medien GmbH, Gvttingen, Germany. He started out as a programmer in the 1980s and has been active in the IT business since the early 1990s. As dff's main software architect, he has been around since Cocoon version 1.7. He became a committer to the Cocoon project in 2001 and is involved in several other open-source software projects. ) Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 504 pages
• Publisher: Sams (July 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735712352
• ISBN-13: 978-0735712355
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,094,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coccon: the XSP alternative, October 23, 2002

By 

C. M. Lowry (Columbia JUG, Columbia, SC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cocoon: Building XML Applications (Paperback)

Cocoon is an open source product that is part of the Apache XML project. It enables the construction of web sites using Java Servlet technology, XML, and XSL. The Cocoon 2 platform is a major architectural change from the original platform. This book covers the new platform very thoroughly. The contents start with an overview of Internet Applications from a historical perspective and moves towards the prospect of empowering applications with XML. There is of course the obligatory chapter on installation of the required products. The fourth chapter is a focal point in the early part of the book, in that it covers Cocoon in such a way that a technical reader can gain enough insight to determine if he wishes to pursue it further. Cocoon is significantly different from JSP and Model 2 architecture.

The book follows the path of exploring Cocoon with progressively increasing depth. A web portal application is developed in the book, using Cocoon. It starts very simply, but impressively by providing RSS news feeds from content providers on the Internet. As more of Cocoon is revealed, functionality is added to the application, like SQL inquiries and finally XSP.

The authors cover the Avalon Component Model that Cocoon is based on, the internals of Cocoon, and how to develop your own components for Cocoon using Java. While a lot can be done with Cocoon without writing Java, knowledge of XML and XSLT is a must.

There are not a lot books or articles on Cocoon. This book makes a great step in filling that void and would be a valued resource for anyone interested in what Cocoon can deliver.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well done!, August 22, 2002

By 

Erik Hatcher - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cocoon: Building XML Applications (Paperback)

I'm a Cocoon newbie (at the time of this writing, but not for long!) and this book explains very clearly how to build powerful applications easily. Cocoon is a very slick framework that has no competition that I know of - and it should be in the toolset of all J2EE application developers.

I am refactoring a project to use Cocoon, and this book gave me the time-saving edge I needed to jump head-first into a new framework that normally would have taken weeks to delve into on my own.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the best book on Cocoon., February 14, 2003

By 

Shane McEneaney (Dublin 7, Leinster Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cocoon: Building XML Applications (Paperback)

I was happy with this book after reading the first few chapters however after I got stuck into Cocoon I discovered that it was not suitable as a reference. I couldn't find information on XML fragments or i18n. The index isn't good at all. The information may be in there but you will have to read the book from cover to cover to get value from it. I would recommend going for the Cocoon Developers Handbook.