Document Object Model : Processing Structured Documents [Paperback]

Joe Marini (Conductor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0072224363 | ISBN-13: 978-0072224368 | Publication Date: July 24, 2002 | Edition: 1st

Document Object Model Analogy: In many ways, the Document Object Model (DOM) can be compared to the schematic of a house. A house's schematic details the relation and placement of objects within a house. For instance, within a schematic, you are able to understand the relationship of the sink to the wall, as well as the corresponding plumbing. In other words, the schematic defines the relationship of one object to another and often, illustrates the rules by which they are governed. HTML and XML documents are also composed of objects, and although these objects may not be physical, like a sink, their organisation and interaction is still coordinated by a set of rules. In this case, the DOM acts as a foundation for the placement and interaction of objects within a document. Whether the object is a table, a piece of information, or a script, the DOM specifies a model for the interaction of these objects. For developers, a thorough understanding of these relationships is paramount, and often, it forms the basis for a system's development.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Tap the Power of the Document Object Model

Here's a practical guide to using the W3C's standardized DOM interfaces to process XML and HTML documents. Learn the concepts, design, theory, and origins of the DOM. Use the DOM to inspect, navigate, and manipulate a document's nodes and content; then learn to build useful applications that can easily be ported to any DOM-compliant implementation without re-coding. Get easy-to-follow advice on using the DOM in real-world scenarios such as manipulating document content, creating user interfaces, and offloading processing to the client side. The Document Object Model: Processing Structured Documents will help you flatten your learning curve, standardize programming, reuse code, and reduce development time.
*Discover the advantages of having a common means of manipulating document information
*Examine the history and theory behind the DOM's structure, organization, and API
*Learn to work with various DOM implementations for both client and server
*Dynamically view and edit a document's elements and navigate its structure
*Develop document-processing applications that are implementation independent
*Learn to work with the core data types and interfaces required for effective DOM applications
*Take advantage of DOM support in Web browsers--including the latest versions of Netscape, Internet Explorer, and Opera
*Dissect common algorithms and code patterns of DOM processing
*Build useful, practical DOM applications using a step-by-step approach
*Debug DOM code in browsers and client/server applications

About the Author

Joe Marini (San Francisco, CA) is the founder of Lepton Technologies, a third-party development company. Prior to forming Lepton Technologies, he was a senior software engineer at Macromedia, where he was one of the architects of the Dreamweaver Extensibility mechanism. Joe is responsible for the extensibility architectures of several other popular software programs, such as mFactory's mTropolis multimedia application and Quark Inc.'s QuarkXPress. He lives and works in San Francisco, CA with his wife, Stacy, and dog, Milo.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/OsborneMedia; 1st edition (July 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072224363
• ISBN-13: 978-0072224368
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,396,474 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great DOM coverage with excellent examples!, October 15, 2003

By 

Milan Negovan (NY, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Document Object Model : Processing Structured Documents (Paperback)

This book rightfully deserves 5 stars. Is it revolutionary in the sense of "unleashing" DOM? No. If you love reading HTML documentation you can get pretty much the same scope at the W3C site (which the author himself acknowledges). It is more of a wake-up call for web developers.

The ideas presented in the book are very elegant which makes them very valuable. The author explains subtle and obvious differences in the DOM support as implemented by different browser vendors. It has been of great help in my work since I read this book.

Part III alone ("Practical Uses of the DOM") is worth the time and money for its real-life applications of DOM!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly work on an advanced topic, September 15, 2002

By 

Thomas Muck "tommuck" (Fairfax, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Document Object Model : Processing Structured Documents (Paperback)

I have a great deal of interest in the document object model, as it is the basis of HTML and XML documents. Anyone interested in working with HTML, XML, DHTML in an advanced way should read this book and learn from it. This isn't a book for people with a passing interest in slapping together Web pages in Front Page, but it will give you a solid knowledge of the advanced topics of DOM manipulation using JavaScript.

The book starts with some solid theory and explanation of the DOM API, but quickly moves to some practical examples, such as some useful debugging tools, and some HTML interface components (popup menus, in-place list editing) which will get you off on the right foot thinking about how you can implement your own interface elements. That's really the strongest aspect of the book -- getting you to think in new ways.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent resource, September 11, 2002

By 

trip (Belmont, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Document Object Model : Processing Structured Documents (Paperback)

I read through this book in detail, and I must say that I learned a lot about the DOM that I had previously glossed over. The DOM spec is much more powerful and interesting than what most folks assume. This book gives you insights on building real-world applications using the DOM, as well as helping to deal with cross-browser issues. As I said, it's a great resource for both web developers and web-based application developers.