XML Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools [Paperback]

Michael Fitzgerald (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0596007116 | ISBN-13: 978-0596007119 | Publication Date: August 3, 2004 | Edition: 1

Developers and system administrators alike are uncovering the true power of XML, the Extensible Markup Language that enables data to be sent over the Internet from one computer platform to another or one application to another and retain its original format. Flexible enough to be customized for applications as diverse as web sites, electronic data interchange, voice mail systems, wireless devices, web services, and more, XML is quickly becoming ubiquitous.

XML Hacks is a roll-up-your-sleeves guide that distills years of ingenious XML hacking into a complete set of practical tips, tricks, and tools for web developers, system administrators, and programmers who want to go far beyond basic tutorials to leverage the untapped power of XML.

With plenty of useful real-world projects that illustrate how to define, read, create, and manipulate XML documents, XML Hacks shows readers how to put XML's power to work on the Internet and within productivity applications. Each Hack in this book can be read easily in a few minutes, saving programmers and administrators countless hours of searching for the right answer. And this is an O'Reilly Hacks book, so it's not just practical, imminently useful, and time-saving. It's also fun.

From Anatomy of an XML Document to Exploring SOAP Messages XML Hacks shows you how to save time and accomplish more with fewer resources. If you want much more than the average XML user--to explore and experiment, do things you didn't know you could do with XML, discover clever shortcuts, and show off just a little--this invaluable book is a must-have.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Fitzgerald is a freelance writer and trainer specializing in XML and related technologies. He is the author of Building B2B Applications with XML and XSL Essentials, both published by John Wiley & Sons, and has published several articles for XML.com on the O'Reilly Network.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (August 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596007116
• ISBN-13: 978-0596007119
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,105,277 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very wide breadth of topics, August 22, 2004

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: XML Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools (Paperback)

Very useful if you already deal with XML and need help with occasional tricky points. While you could try to learn XML from this book, I wouldn't suggest it. Whereas, if you already have some familiarity with DTDs, schemas and other topics like SOAP and Open Office, then the book is potentially far more useful.

Perhaps the most intricate parts of the book deal with using XSLT to process XML documents. Trouble is, the XSLT usage can be very convoluted and non-obvious, unless you know it thoroughly. The hacks Fitzgerald describe that involve XSLT are neat. But, perhaps by necessity, they only hint at the depths beneath.

Overall, the book shows the ever-growing scope of XML. From interacting with SQL databases to the Microsoft Office suite, to news feeds like RSS. The book is excellent motivation for gaining fluency in XML.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Do [Task] with [Other Object], October 2, 2004

By 

Jase T. Wolfe - See all my reviews

This review is from: XML Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools (Paperback)

Nothing irritates me as much as the industries gratuitous use of the word "hack". I won't say more on this topic other than to advise you that any time you see the word "hack" in this book, substitute it for "tip", "task", or "how to". Once that is understood, this title takes on a whole new feel and its usefulness is made clearer.

Anyone not already familiar with XML, its creation and use, should probably not pick up this book. However, if you are using XML documents a lot, the chances are that this book will yield a resolution method for most of the XML file transformation, modification or parsing need you may have. This method, however, typically requires the use of a third party utility, application, or script (a great many of the tips are titled "Do [something] using [something else]"). A quick flip through the table of contents reveals at least 35 different utilities required to the complete the associated tasks - which is OK if you don't mind incorporating "black box" solutions into your environment. There are also many "see this book" notations within this title as well, so if you find a solution to a need, but require more than what the tip tells you, you may need to make additional purchases.

Overall, a good read for anyone that already knows and makes heavy use of XML; you're sure to walk away with something new.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent Hacks title..., August 22, 2004

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: XML Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools (Paperback)

O'Reilly has delivered another excellent title in the Hacks series. This time it's XML Hacks by Michael Fitzgerald. While not as "fun" as, say, the Digital Photography Hacks book, it's just as useful if working with XML is something you do as part of your IT job.

Chapter breakout: Looking At XML Documents; Creating XML Documents; Transforming XML Documents; XML Vocabularies; Defining XML Vocabularies with Schema Language; RSS and Atom; Advanced XML Hacks

For those not familiar with the Hacks series, each book contains 100 tips, techniques, and plain cool things you can do with the technology. Some will be things you already know, some will be things you aren't quite ready for yet, and others will be ones that you just can't wait to try out as they solve a problem you've been living with for far too long.

There were two areas I liked in this book. The Creating and Transforming chapters introduce a number of software packages, both commercial and free, that can help you manage the process of working with your XML files in something more elegant than Notepad. The RSS and Atom chapter is also cool as I use RSS in my blog feed, and this will help me understand and enhance that feed.

I've yet to find a bad Hacks title, and this is no exception. Very good material.