Practical RDF [Paperback]

Shelley Powers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2003 | ISBN-10: 0596002637 | ISBN-13: 978-0596002633 | Edition: 1st

The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a structure for describing and interchanging metadata on the Web--anything from library catalogs and worldwide directories to bioinformatics, Mozilla internal data structures, and knowledge bases for artificial intelligence projects. RDF provides a consistent framework and syntax for describing and querying data, making it possible to share website descriptions more easily. RDF's capabilities, however, have long been shrouded by its reputation for complexity and a difficult family of specifications. Practical RDF breaks through this reputation with immediate and solvable problems to help you understand, master, and implement RDF solutions.

Practical RDF explains RDF from the ground up, providing real-world examples and descriptions of how the technology is being used in applications like Mozilla, FOAF, and Chandler, as well as infrastructure you can use to build your own applications. This book cuts to the heart of the W3C's often obscure specifications, giving you tools to apply RDF successfully in your own projects.

The first part of the book focuses on the RDF specifications. After an introduction to RDF, the book covers the RDF specification documents themselves, including RDF Semantics and Concepts and Abstract Model specifications, RDF constructs, and the RDF Schema. The second section focuses on programming language support, and the tools and utilities that allow developers to review, edit, parse, store, and manipulate RDF/XML. Subsequent sections focus on RDF's data roots, programming and framework support, and practical implementation and use of RDF and RDF/XML.

If you want to know how to apply RDF to information processing, Practical RDF is for you. Whether your interests lie in large-scale information aggregation and analysis or in smaller-scale projects like weblog syndication, this book will provide you with a solid foundation for working with RDF.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Shelley Powers is an independent contractor, currently living in St. Louis, who specializes in technology architecture and software development. She's authored several computer books, including Developing ASP Components, Unix Power Tools 3rd edition, Essential Blogging, and Practical RDF. In addition, Shelley has also written several articles related primarily to web technology, many for O'Reilly. Shelley's web site network is at http://burningbird.net, and her weblog is Burningbird, at http://weblog.burningbird.net.

Product Details

• Paperback: 331 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1st edition (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596002637
• ISBN-13: 978-0596002633
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.7 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #506,669 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #58 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > XML

More About the Author

Plain. Writer.

Shelley Powers has been working with, and writing about, web technologies--from the first release of JavaScript to the latest graphics and design tools--for more than 15 years. Her recent O'Reilly books have covered JavaScript, Node, and HTML5.

Shelley is now transitioning to other topic areas, including sustainable agriculture, food safety, environmentalism, animal welfare, and combating corporate front groups. Upcoming books will touch on the 100 year old battle over raw milk, and the ten year court case between Feld Entertainment (Ringling Brothers Circus) and the animal welfare community.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Tech review missing January 6, 2005

By A close reader

Format:Paperback

There's a lot of information in this book, and there's really no alternative source for much of it. The RDF spec kept changing while this book was being written, which accounts for how some of the inconsistencies and inaccuracies got into the text.

However, it wasn't proofreading that should have caught these problems but the technical reviewers. They flat fell down on the job. On page 20, for instance, the text says that "in all instances of RDF graphs I've seen, [the direction of the arrows] is from right to left." Right below it, and in all the graphs in the book and in all RDF graphs that _I_ have seen, they point from left to right.

Or on page 41, the text says "a blank node is represented by an oval (it is a resource)" and in all the book's figures, blank nodes are represented by rectangles. Many other such maddening inconsistencies occur between the text and the figures and examples, which frustrates someone trying to learn what's going on.

Every writer gets some things wrong, and it's up to the publisher and its tech review to catch and correct them. Powers may have written uninspiredly and slipped up in her revising, but it's O'Reilly and the four people who provided technical review that is more at fault for the problems.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but.... April 6, 2004

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Normally, I like O'Reilly books. I've probably bought over 50 of them over the years. This one, however, is not up to their usual standards. While the subject, RDF, is interesting and I feel that the pace and content of the book are good. I find that there are so many typographical errors in the book - at least in the copy that I have - that it takes more effort to figure out what it is that the author means, as opposed to what the text is actually saying, than it's worth. There are places where the text contains contradictions, there are places where the examples are incorrect, and there are places where the information presented is downright wrong. I do not feel that the fault is solely the author's, nor do I feel that the fault lies solely with O'Reilly's editors. But what could have been a good, informative book has been brought low by a lack of proofreading.

If you're really interested in RDF, you may well do better by going to the W3C web site and reading the specifications there than by reading this book.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Many typos and mediocre writing style ... December 29, 2004

By Yuri A. Baranov

Format:Paperback

I bought this book because I would to have a printed source of information to RDF concepts and syntax. Also, I hoped to see some examples and ideas of RDF applications beyound of the (in)famous Semantic Web.

My expectations were fulfilled only partially.

First, the book was somewhat difficult to read because of typos and discrepancies e.g. between RDF examples and figures of graphs that were generated from them.

Only one application of RDF is shown in good detail through the book: PostCon vocabulary/schema developed by the author herself.

RSS is covered in a separate chapter, but I would not reccomend Practical RDF for somebody who wants to get an introduction to RSS technology - version 2.0 of RSS being not RDF-based is not covered in the book.

I agree with the author that RDF technology has a huge potential, but this declaration is not proved by most of this book's examples.

Tools and applications are only described briefly in getting started guide style - I would rather go google for up-to-date version of the same info.

Also, there is little fun found reading that book. Style is rather dull - not unlike the style I use in this review, but extended to 300+ pages.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Not so practical March 6, 2004

By Jack D. Herrington VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

For a book about 'practical' RDF this book is mainly about theory. The book doesn't get into applications until chapter 10 and it's coverage of the RSS applications is pretty minor. However, there are some good points. The XML examples are highlighted, which makes them very easy to read. The tough subject matter, meta data about meta data, is well covered in-depth.

I gave it four stars because it is merely mis-titled. The first ten chapters do a solid job, with excellent graphics, explaining RDF. So if you are looking for an general RDF book, you have probably come to the right place. If you are looking for a book to explain why your blog's RSS doesn't validate, you shouldn't buy into the practical title, or this book.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Verbose March 27, 2004

By "digital_anthropologist"

Format:Paperback

I found the prose of this book tedious and in the way of the material. Normally I appreciate O'Reilly books because I actually sit down and read them, away from the computer, but in this case the prose does nothing to illuminate the material. For example, in the first chapter, which provides an overview of the technology (independent of its XML implementation), the author talks about a particular tool for graphically representing an RDF graph. But (1) the tool is never really introduced -- why should it be in this chapter? and (2) she writes as if the graphical views of the tool are somehow literally the RDF graphs, which are mathematical constructs. In short, the author has done none of the important work of getting to the essence of RDF and presenting it in a logical and convincing manner. The thinking behind RDF is complicated and subtle, in spite of the superficial simplicity of the technology. What I expected was a book that would provide some real explanation, rather than an exhaustive and wordy review of all the concepts in series. This is not the book.