Customer Reviews

XML Demystified

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It's tempting to ask what's the big deal about XML. Just make up some tags and off you go! Unfortunately, once you start getting into DTDs, XLink, XPath, and a variety of other X-things, it gets much more complex and confusing. If you want to start understanding the world of XML, start off with XML Demystified by Jim Keogh and Ken Davidson.

Contents: XML - An Inside Look; Creating an XML Document; Document Type Definitions; XML Schema; XLink, XPath, XPointer; XSLT; XML Parsers and Transformations; Really Simple Syndication (RSS); XQuery; MSXML; Final Exam; Answers to Quizzes and Final Exam; Index

At 221 pages, this is not an authoritative reference for everything involving XML. And that's a *good* thing. Keogh and Davidson zero in on the basics of each of the XML technologies, and they do a wonderful job of explaining things in terms any developer can understand. Rather than try and explain every option and nuance of a command or feature, they tell you what it does, how it works, and they show an example. If you work through the material as they present it, you'll end up with a solid understanding of the 90% of XML that you'll use on a regular basis. The other 10% is where you'll head off to buy the 1000 page reference manual to look up that arcane parameter that your co-worker used just because they read about it before you did... :)

I personally was impressed at how they were able to clearly present XSLT in a way that made it obvious. Same with XLink and XPath... I've read the large books and walked away somewhat more confused than when I started. XML Demystified could easily be the starting point for many XML beginners, and I'm pretty sure that you'll end up with the results you were after...

It is a kind of book you can read in a weekend, but it will give you a good, although basic, understanding what XML is about. No previous knowledge about XML is required but some idea about HTML seems to be silently assumed as authors put phrases like "similar as in HTML" here and there, so you should at least know what a tag is (not too high requirement).
If you look for a book about programming and using XML in yor applicationlook elsewhere but if you just need to get fast some basic understanding of XML it gives a good start.
Taking into account that many computer books on web applications start with an assumption that you "have a basic understanding of XML" this book will help you to attain this level very fast.
This book will teach you something about both DTD and XML Schemas, but also about XPointer, XPath and XQuery and even how to use a Saxon parser.
So to sum it up good and fast read but very basic.

I had to stop reading this book about halfway through because there were so many things left unexplained. For example, on page 71, it states about Xlink:type that "There are two possible links: simple and extended." and procedes to briefly explain what these are. Then on page 73 there is a sample XML document containing Xlink:type="arc". So, I'm left wondering, if there are two types of Xlinks, where did "arc" come from. The answer, of course, is that there are not only two possible values for Xlink:type, but you won't find that explained in this book. If you really want to understand XML, pass this book up.

As a newbie to XML, I was really hoping to use this book for an overview of the language before diving into meatier texts; however, I found the brevity of the book to be too...brief. I spent a good deal of time looking up additional references to get a better picture of what XML can really do.

1. It is simply not possible to program ANYTHING in XML from this book. It is so general that it is much more aptly suited to be a "what is xml?" book than a book that actually teaches you anything. If XML was a basketball game, this book would get you in the arena in the nosebleed seats, but not much more.
2. It is absolutely riddled with typos and inaccuracies. As is the norm with the Demystified Series, one-two authors have put out like 5-6 books in a 2 year span. This just means that it feels rushed and unedited. Many, many typos. For a student, it's maddening b/c the book gives up any semblance of trust that the reader has in the author. If I think there's a mistake in the book, I can truly doubt whether it's another typo or if it's me who is wrong or if the author doesn't know what he's talking about. And there is no errata section 3 years after the fact. They just want to make a quick buck.
3. It is a waste of time b/c Elizabeth Castro's book XML for the WWW written in 2000 or 2001 and I am 10 pages into it and it's already going to be light-years better. I will likely buy the 2008 version that is coming on in September 2008.
4. The majority of the books in this entire series get poor reviews and I believe that the HeadFirst series is better. They're basic but you can actually learn a few things. I think that this book doesn't make anything clearer about XML for me.

An easy weekend read that touches on a wide range of XML topics, but typos in the book confuse rather then reinforce many of the concepts.