Customer Reviews

XML: A Beginner's Guide

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am currently using this book in a class on XML. It has been used sparingly, thank God, by our instructor. The main book we rely on for good advise and examples of XML is written by Elizabeth Castro. If you don't want to waste your money on a book which is not very clear, concise, or written in a well defined and orderly manner, don't purchase this book. I have worked in the field of computer programming and written in 9 different computer languages, as well as, learning others. Take it from me, there are better books on this subject.

After reaching module 3 I became quite disappointed. The example in Module 2-1 is missing from the website and there are many coding and errors in the examples through out the book making it hard for a new comer to really learn what is right or wrong. Unfortunately there aren't many books out there for beginners. For a true new comer to XML and coding itself this book can be confusing. Would recommend at risk.

This book started out very promising. Explaining things at a high level. I have not found a book yet on XML that has actually given me any insight on using it for anything useful. After reading this I am more confused than ever. The basis of XML is simple but the options and implementation are very hard to grasp.
The main problem other than the typos throughout the book is the order. The author will be talking about one topic and go into another unrelated topic without ever finishing the first. Sometimes I had to check to see if I accidently skipped some pages.(I had not!!)Still looking for the best book to learn XML. This one wasn't it.

The book does a good job with explaining topics such as using XML as a database and using DOM to interface with XML. It is also a good book if you work in the Microsoft web technologies (ASP, VBScript), since many of the examples use ASP and VBScript to interface with the XML document.

However, I had to give it only three stars because it is not really a book for people new to programming, as this book advertises. A reader does need some kind of programming basics to understand some of the topics. Also, I think that the book glosses over the basics of XML. Even though the more intermediate topics like using XML as a database are explained well, a reader that is brand-new to XML could easily get lost because not enough emphasis was placed on the basics.

If you do work in the Microsoft technologies, and you want to learn and work with XML, then buy this book AFTER reviewing the free XML tutorial on [website]

just a warning- don`t be convinced by the "free code online" offer- they don`t give you a website, and if you do track it down from the publisher, you`ll discover its painful to use- that combined with the mistypes in the text and its a basket case.

other then that, the book is clear enough, but how can you learn a language without practice?

This book went to the presses to soon. Every example is full of errors. Every example is lacking and fails to show what it is intended to show. To add to my frustrations, online resources are not updated either. There are far too few illustrations. Far too few cross references. I would recommend "The XML Companion" by Neil Bradley, Addison Wesley. Just flick through the books side by side for 10 seconds and you get what I mean.

The author, Dave Mercer seems to have a very good grasp on the content. The mastery questions at the end of the sections are written as may be found in a normal conversation on the subject...this is very helpful. I found myself often asking these same questions while reading the book. Readability was in a slight technical tone and having some background in coding would help while reading this book. I wish that the publisher would have made the address for the online website more obvious for the exercises that the book contains...perhaps on the front cover next to the "free code online" statement. All in all I would recommend this book.

This book is a good read for someone fairly experienced in HTML and aquianted with Web application development who wants to add XML to his or her skillset. It does a fairly good job of explaining to what I feel is a satisfactory level of depth the various topics covered. Downside: alot of theory and concepts but not enough examples. If you are looking for a workbook, something with exercises to practicaly apply what you have learned, this is NOT it. BEWARE: the code examples in the "projects" section is RIFE with typographical errors. Obviously, the proofreader of this book is not a programmer as he/she missed ALL of the typos. This is especially frustrating for beginners as it breaks the pages and causes hours of frustration which could have easily been avoided. Better off to rely on the online examples provided on their download site.

This is an excellent introduction to the XML basics. The book i swell-organized and the writing is clear & easy to follow. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who needs to get up to speed quickly with XML, or who needs to quickly teach it to others.