XML, otherwise known as eXtensible Mark Up language is the latest buzz word on the internet. Why is this? XML is a meta language, meaning a language which describes data. Like HTML, it is a sub set of SGML (Standardized General Mark Up Language) but unlike HTML it is infinitely extensible. What do we mean by this? Well, HTML has a fixed number of tags and for the most part, these tags define what a page of text will look like in your browser - will it be bold, italic, a paragraph, a heading etc. This tells you nothing about the data the page contains. In XML, there is no limit to the number of tags and each tag describes the data it contains. So, if I was summarizing these book details in XML, I would have an pair of tags which would contain the ISBN number of the book, a pair of tags, an pair of tags and so on. So what, you may ask? So... the possibilities this opens up for identifying and sorting data are huge. If I had a whole pile of individual title information sheets, and I wanted to produce a single document that listed all the ISBNs, all the prices etc, I would just sort on the specific XML tags. If I turned a book into XML - the Bible, the Koran and the works of Shakespeare have already been done - and then wanted details of a specific subject I would search for the XML tagged data. XML is a user-friendly version of SGML that will make the management of huge sets of on-line documentation much easier. It's a language which describes data, making it much easier to find and sort by the data type you require. It opens up the opportunity for industry groups, like the health-care and automotive industries to create their own specific languages for the interchange of data. It speeds up the transfer of data from a database on the server to an application on the client - check out the Microsoft auction demo on the MS XML web page. It has immense potential, and, crucially the support of both the major browser companies.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Mastering XML is certainly difficult, but XML Applications provides all the background you'll need to get started. Early sections outline why XML is a better way to deliver Internet content. The authors look at available XML tools (including freeware utilities and the Internet Explorer 5 beta) and XML basics, such as Document Type Definitions (DSDs), cascading style sheets (CSS), and Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL). The authors also present real-world implementations of XML, including Microsoft's Channel Definition Format and the Chemical Markup Language (for chemists).
Next, the book moves on to the nitty-gritty of building XML documents, including design considerations, conventions, and using custom tags. Information on XML and databases follows, and then the authors highlight important XML topics, such as namespaces, XLinks and XPointers (for linking content), and the XML document object model.
Later sections of the book turn to practical XML samples. First, SQL Server 6.5 is used with an XML phone-list entry application. Another example for distributing technical papers shows off the potential of using XML to work with Internet agents. A third application uses Java and XML to automatically generate static HTML for slide photographs and descriptions, a timesaving idea for Webmasters.
The importance of XML is growing, and XML Applications provides URLs of Web sites that can provide more on emerging standards. This book gives the reader state-of-the-art information in today's XML with plenty of useful technical knowledge. --Richard Dragan
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There's little doubt that XML (Extensible Markup Language) is among the emerging technologies that will gain a wide and significant acceptance. In particular, this means that companies will be writing real-world applications and services based on it. Why? Because XML is a powerful tool when designing Web applications and a universal data format to marshal information across the various tiers of the system. XML describes data, no matter the language, platform, or format. This principle emerges clearly from XML Applications, by Frank Boumphrey et al. This is the first book that tries to bring XML to a wide audience by explaining how to take advantage of it in your own projects. --Dino Esposito, Dr. Dobb's Electronic Review of Computer Books -- Dr. Dobb's Electronic Review of Computer Books
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Don't buy - an updated version exists!,
By
This review is from: XML Applications (Paperback)
A good introduction to the 'current' state of XML as of December 1998. Wrox press are about to publish an updated version of this book as 'Professional XML' in February 2000.The book is a bit frustrating at times since has to deal with matters that have not been finalised, and has constant references to sites where updated details can be found. This is probably the biggest stumbling block for XML as a whole, irrespective of which XML book you buy. The book is, at times, a bit dry, and could benefit with more code samples. Overall a very good introduction to XML - but buy the updated version of the book!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Definitely not for someone wanting to learn from scratch,
By A Customer
This review is from: XML Applications (Paperback)
I haven't even finished the first chapter and I know I've already bought the wrong book. As an advanced internet developer I can't possibly refer this book to anyone. When I bought this book I expected to learn what XML was all about from scratch. The book should have started off with some web pages and other applications that showed where we would end up once we have learnt XML, and the great possibilities that lie ahead. As it was, I had absolutely no idea where I was heading. Lots of quick talks about Entities, Enumerated Attributes and so on that amount to a hill of fluff. The book has no direction. I read many books every year but this one was the worse. If you want to really learn about XML, check out the book XML Bible sold by Amazon. I haven't read it but the reviewers who have give it much praise.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Book with very LIMITED USE,
By
This review is from: XML Applications (Paperback)
I liked the book and it's approach in introducing to XML Application Development. Unfortunately, Microsoft has withdrawn msxml.exe on which most of the content of the book is based. I am not sure if there is any plan, by the authors, to help the developers to get around this and yet, refer to the book for it's excellent approach to mastering XML Technology. I, particularly, liked the chapters on XSL, and practical applications (case studies), including CDF application. I, however, did not like the XML-Data chapter so much. This is mainly because it really does not provide the learning steps as much in detail as other chapters. I wish the author had followed the method used in authoring of CDF-chapter. The book does not provide step-by-step procedure (including that of tools required, setting of tools, personal web server etc.) for testing the source codes provided in the book. It is left to the imagination and the exhaustive work, expenses of time and communications for advice etc. of the learner of this new technology. It took me several hours before I could successfully test the case study source codes. Also, the author/publisher should provide after-sales support due to lack of the basic tool (msxml.exe) on which the entire book is based. Publisher should withdraw this book from the distribution/sale. It seems the author is planning to publish another book in lieu of this, later in Year 2000. Hope the publisher will be kind enough to give some discounts to the buyers of the current book.
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