Customer Reviews

XML Weekend Crash Course (with CD-ROM)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a great book for newbies like me, but there were a lot of errors (mostly incorrect names for associating files) that you have to figure out on your own. The errors occur once every 2 to 3 chapters, so it isn't too bad - just annoying. From what I've seen, the CD has the correct file names so there's some relief there. Unfortunately, the publishing company went out of business so you can't go to their website to get updates with corrections.

Book Description

XML Weekend Crash Course is an excellent source for beginners and experienced users alike for learning or enhancing XML skills in just 15 hours or 30 well-thought out sessions. You will gain a thorough understanding of XML documents and learn what it takes to create working, viewable XML.

XML WCC will walk you through step-by-step on how to systematically apply each task in a building block manner. As you work through each chapter, you feel as if a trainer and coach is guiding you through the process. Key areas in the text that enhance the learning experience are the Tips, Notes, Time Clock Progress Icon, Explanations of the Task, Review, and the Quiz Yourself Questions at the end of each chapter. As XML becomes ever more prevalent for applications on the Web, XML WCC is definitely a must for those who need to know how to get started in creating XML documents.

What does this book cover?

- Using tags to label XML content
- Formatting XML documents for display in a Web browser
- Building applications around XML documents
- Understanding how XML documents are processed
- Learning several ways to create XML documents
- Learning the two major building blocks of XML documents
- Taking advantage of the many tools available for validating
- Attributes, uses, and benefits of DTD's (Document Type
Definitions)
- Learning about graphic types and options
- Simple transformations with XSLT and X Path
- Using CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and applying XSLT style
sheets automatically
- Introduction to XML schemas
- Linking and querying XML documents

Book Info

Offers the novice and experienced XML user a solid foundation in understanding the key attributes and the applications of XML documents. Upon completion of XML WCC, users will feel confident in their understanding, application, and future development as they move forward in XML learning. Softcover.

This book includes a CD-ROM as well. The CD-ROM contains a self-assessment test, source code for session examples, software that can be installed, and links to other useful software.

Overall this is an decent place to start with XML. It covers what needs to be covered to get you up to speed, and most readers with any technical background could probably could do it at about the pace that the book advertises (15 hours to get up to speed on XML.) Organization and writing are mostly OK.

Hovever, the book is sloppy. It repeats itself in several places. Some editing notes are left in the text. One exercise is presented before giving proper background, so the reader doesn't even know how to do the exercise. Some obvious questions are left unanswered, leaving the reader feeling frustrated. Clearly the book was not 'street tested'.

Overall, if you can forgive the books faults, you are given a good grasp of the key XML concepts. This is par for the course, and so I give it 3 stars. It gives you the knowledge you need, but does so a sloppy way.

I knew nothing about XML and needed to come up to speed quickly. This book served that purpose well. It starts with basic theoretical explanations and goes into some technical detail. It did not teach me "everything" I needed to know, but it did a good job of getting me started. I would recommend it for a novice with little to advanced technical background who needs to learn XML.

I have bought a lot of Programming Books, at least one other of this "Brand" and have NEVER before written a negative review. I am so disgusted with this book that I decided to at least get the word out.

Realizing this book was published in 2001, I know they could not foresee everything about this programming language, but you do not set up more than half your book based on one piece of software. Of course there are other ways to go further with XML without the Instant Saxon software they tout and insist you must use. It is included on the disk, but doesn't work and is not supported(the web site they send you to is vague and the downloads you may use there are confusing and not helpful). Now I will be looking elsewhere for that information when I bought this book for that reason, and all of the fragments of code they have had me updating, waste. The SUPPORT Web Site is non-existent, and the disk harder to access than a 1999 magazine demo disk.

It starts out pretty good, but then they begin doing more complicated code that apparently needs to use Instant Saxon, for reasons which I now do not know. Of course, I might have known if only they had stayed with the 'program'. .

If this book were really about XML, none of these things would be so tackily and weakly done.

If you are new to XML and wish to know how XML relates to HTML, DTD, XLST, XPATH, and XHTML, this should be your first book.

The book is clearly written in bite sized sections with quizes that follow. Each section reiterates concepts of prior sections to ensure you understand what you read.

I completed the book in less than the recommended 15 hours and can say than I have nearly 100% comprehension of the material.

I commend the authors on a job well done.

A great introduction to XML.
The example programs and tutorials cover a breadth of topics. The sections are related and continue to build on useful tools and suggested practices.
I would recommend the book to anyone new to XML that wants to rip through some examples and would like to know about dtd and xlst.

This is a good intro book that is very easy to follow. There are exercises and examples as well. Unfortunately, some of the material - especially the website references and suggested downloads - are a little dated (published 2001 = 4 years ago). Also, schemas (XSDs) are touched on but do not get much space devoted to them in the book. Likewise, a lot of time is spent on DTDs. I believe schemas are now widely adopted instead of DTDs. Nevertheless, you can learn much of the XML basics with this book. I suggest browsing for a title published more recently before making this book your final choice.

I would recommend this to anyone with a working knowledge of HTML who is looking for an introduction to the various utilities of XML. While not incredibly in-depth and by no means comprehensive, this book is successful in giving you hands-on experience in some basic coding, as well as allowing you to understand the purpose and functionality of the language. I got it used, and cannot think of a better steal for in the $5 to $10 range... it's definitely worth grabbing at that price, but understand that it's a jumping off point, not a comprehensive guide.

It is a great little book to read and understand. I would recommend your weekend reading it.