Professional XML, 2nd Edition (Programmer to Programmer) [Paperback]

Mark Birbeck (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Programmer to Programmer | Publication Date: January 2001

XML has made a major impact in almost every aspect of software development. Designed as an open, extensible, self-describing language, it has become the standard for data and document delivery on the web. The panoply of XML-related technologies continues to develop at breakneck speed, to enable validation, navigation, transformation, linking, querying, description, and messaging of data.

This is the new edition of Professional XML, updated to cover the latest developments in XML. This book provides a thorough and practical grounding in the core XML technologies and shows some of the key applications of XML in computing, from presenting and adding meaning to information on the Web, through using it as a data interchange format, to enabling open business-to-business computing.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Professional XML is aimed toward seasoned Web or general application developers as a guide for developing sophisticated, real-world XML solutions. It successfully meets the most pressing need for programmers new to XML by putting all of the various component technologies into clear context.

The near boundless potential of XML also means there is much ground to cover, and this book cuts no corners in taking the reader through the network of technologies, exploring both the presentation and data exchange applications of XML. This second edition represents the current state of the ever-evolving set of XML standards, particularly the momentum toward XML Schemas.

The first couple of chapters compose an excellent XML introduction and the basic language syntax. Then the various authors delve into the individual components of XML such as document type definitions (DTD), XML Schemas, XPath, and XSLT. Most of the chapters include some concrete examples of how to implement the techniques in question. Late in the book, a full-fledged case study serves as an excellent compilation of several aspects of XML.

The book goes beyond the basics of XML to give the reader a glimpse of the still unknown potential of the technology. A fascinating chapter on Schema Based Programming (SBP)--an experimental coding technique--adds a degree of excitement to the learning process and is sure to spark innovation in any creative programmer.

Professional XML is another seminal work from Wrox. It should be required reading for anyone looking to become an XML guru. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered:

• XML introduction
• Document type definitions
• XML Schemas
• XML-Data Reduced (XDR)
• Validation tools
• XPath
• XSLT
• XLink
• XPointer
• Fragments
• Document Object Model (DOM)
• Simple API for XML version 2 (SAX2)
• Schema Based Programming (SBP)
• Data modeling
• XML data binding
• VoiceXML
• XSL-FO
• RDF
• SOAP
• Microsoft BizTalk and B2B solutions

From the Publisher

This book has been selected by the editors of Wrox Press to be part of the Wroxbase website.

This book is for developers who want to learn about new presentation technologies and how to use XML to improve content management. It is also an essential read for developers working on enterprise solutions, who want to know how to use web standards to link applications in an extensible manner, and see how emerging web services functionality can be used to enable interoperability. You can also learn how to integrate XML into existing enterprise applications, and use XML with databases.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 1268 pages
• Publisher: Peer Information; 2 edition (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861005059
• ISBN-13: 978-1861005052
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,055,827 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

117 of 126 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good reference book, not a learning one, March 20, 2000

By 

Maxime Bombardier - See all my reviews

This review is from: Professional XML (Paperback)

I've found this book very hard to understand as a first book on XML. If you know what XML is about but are looking for practical real-life exemples, look elsewhere. If you know XML and want to know everything about it's internal work and how to work with DTD, that would be your book.

I've also ordered the Professional XML IE5 Programmer's Reference at the same time and this book gave me an overview of what I can do with XML on the Internet and THEN I had an idea of what to do of the Professional XML book.

You have to ask you those questions : Do I need to know how to show XML with XSL, ASP, DHTML, HTML? If yes, look elsewhese first. Do I need an XML reference to know how to create XML files? If yes, look no further.

52 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly what I needed, very timely..., February 21, 2000

By 

J. Wright (Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Professional XML (Paperback)

If you have started to play with XML but need to know where to go, this is the book for you. I rate this one as a "must have" book from Wrox just like the Professional ASP book... both are the top books on the market in their respective fields. I am using XML for content transformation and for Server to Server solutions so I was getting stuff done (in xml) but still had lots of questions. This book covers all the basic stuff and goes into some future technology as well but for the most part this book is for the working programmer who has to produce code quickly but couldn't figure everything out from site hopping.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Mixed Bag, July 31, 2002

By 

JB (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Professional XML, 2nd Edition (Programmer to Programmer) (Paperback)

It is easy to tell that this book was written by 12 different authors. The quality and writing style of each chapter varies widely. I thought the chapters on XPath, XSLT, DOM, SAX2, and SOAP were well written, but I was disappointed by some of the others.

The chapter on XML Schemas was the worst, in my opinion. This is a very important subject, but it is given the same amount of space as much less important topics. As a result, the author of this chapter tries to cover too much in too little space and ends up being quite confusing. Examples are thrown out followed by only partial explanations, and the author forgets to do some basic things like showing a sample XML document to match the sample XML Schemas in the examples. If you need to understand XML Schemas, skip this chapter and go directly to "Professional XML Schemas," which is very well written book on the subject.

This book is also too large and attempts to cover too many obscure topics. For example, it wastes a chapter on "XML Schema Alternatives" when it is clear that XML Schema is the approach that will be used by almost everyone going forward.

Finally, my standard complaint about all WROX books is that the font they use is too small! I feel like I'm reading a telephone book. Give the readers a break by taking out some of the less important chapters and increasing the font size.