Customer Reviews

XML by Example (2nd Edition)

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

The best XML book out there! It thoroughly explains XML and its uses, but any XML book can do that. What makes this book special is its chapters on XML's companion standards, which actually make it useful.

The book begins with XML syntax, DTDs and Namespaces. It then moves on to the fun stuff: XSL, CSS, using the DOM and the SAX API in parsers.

With that foundation, it walks you through creating XML documents inside applications. The book wraps up with a detailed N-Tiered Architecture example, which was thankfully written in Java. The author was kind enough to include a crash course on Java in the Appendix.

Overall, the examples were excellent and interesting. I have read four other XML books, including one with the same title, and this is the first where I could actually apply the examples in my real world projects.

My office has a copy of most of the XML books out there, but this is the only one I'd recommend to developers at any level.

This book is excellent for someone who knows HTML basics and who wants to learn XML. The author does not use only examples, but also comparisons, which are really helpful. For example, XML is structure-oriented and not presentation-oriented, compared to HTML, this book explains the advantage of this difference. The presentation is clear, key notions as Namespace, Style Sheets, Dom and Sax, XLink and XPointer are all introduced in chapter one with examples, and explained in more detail in later chapters. It tells you also how to read this book, for example, chapter 3 is a little abstract, and at the beginning of this chapter, the author suggests you to skip half part and read this chapter later. The author repeats some notions several times, it may be helpful for beginner, but not for advanced. This book covers lots of topics, but not in depth. Overall, it is best suited for beginners. Int/adv readers better read <<Professional XML>>, <<XML unleashed>>, <<XSLT programmers reference>>, <<XML Elements of Style>> and other java/asp xml related books.

Some books have a heavy tendency to become immersed in the exciting technologies that they are writing about, without leaving much scope for the human aspect of learning. XML by example is without a doubt one of the most useful and easy to understand books that I've read in ages. The e-commerce and web based email examples alone are worth the price of the book and it is totally comprehensive. What impressed me about this book most is that it covers more than just the essential aspects of the DOM and XSL, by providing an introduction to Java, Java Server Pages (Jsp's), Java web servers, translation and e-commerce applications (all the code you need is right here). Also the links to resources and applications / tools that are free or open source, which guarantees you'll be up and running with the most cutting edge technology in no time. In a word the most straight forward and to the point book that I have had the pleasure of digesting for a long time. Delicious!

I found this book to be excellent to start learning XML. If you want to understand what XML is all about without getting into scholastics, buy it. It doesn't overwhelm the reader with endless empiric discussions and takes the shortest routes to get you to the point. That is what makes this book valuable for professional programmers who need a quick "jump-start" on XML. The examples are simple and easy to understand. However you should clearly understand that this book is not about sophisticated applications of XML. If you are already familiar with the basic concepts of XML and have some practical experience with it, you most likely will not find this book very useful.

"~I decided to buy three XML books after reading customer reviews here. Needless to say I am not disappointed with them. This book especially is excellent - if you think you want to get big perspective first and then attack XML/CSS/XSL/SAX in detail ... this is the book to start with. I only wish XSL was better explained, but as the author rightly points out that XSL is still evolving - nothing to complain. Nice examples. book.

This book has given me great understanding about XML and its power when mix with Java. What I also love about this book is the example of an eCommerce with XML and Java as its backbone. You'll really see the role of XML on the web application. I highly recommend this to Java programmers only. If your not you may wanna read about java first.

There is a myriad of XML books in the market, ranging from reference to introduction to advanced to integration to Java to explanation to managers. Not a single one of these books can claim to be so clear and concise as this one. It is both practical and conceptual, both comprehensive and introductory. The author excels in nearly every single page. You will not believe XML could be so simple. You will try to see what the other books say, you will try to believe that it is more complex, that you will need to learn a lot more. But you will keep coming back to this one book again and again. And sooner or later you will understand how outstanding and unique this book is.

This book was a major reason why I recently obtained my IBM XML certification. I purchased several books but mainly used this one. I found the flow of the book to be excellent. Fairly easy reading with Listings and Examples that made sense.

I found chapter 5 XSL Transformations to be in-valuable in passing the test.

The proof is in the pudding Ladies and Gentlemen, I achieved my goal of XML certification with the help of this book.

I received XML By Example as I was exploring various books and materials (including many from the World Wide Web Consortium) for a course in XML that I am introducing for a local community education program.

The first 30 minutes of flipping through it convinced me that not only I made the right selection, I just got lucky. My task became much easier. This is probably one of the best technical books I've seen in my 27 years of career in computer software and systems.

Thank you very much, Benoit, for writing this book and sharing it with others. It presents complex topics simply and in a friendly manner. I can almost hear you, over my shoulder, saying "Sure, you can do it. One step at a time, keep going, and I'll guide you." Congratulations!

The only flaw, if it can be called that, is that some terms and constructs are used before they are explained.

XML BY EXAMPLE is well worth the price. It gives a full example from a client browser to a server with a database. All the code is online so you can download it, and I have already talked with the author twice. He is nice and helpful. kc