Customer Reviews

Xml in Plain English

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This is the worst XML documentation I've run across, online or on paper. I am not a total beginner with XML, I didn't expect this book to be a tutorial, and I picked up this book because it seemed like it would get to the point quickly. At first it seemed promising because of its brevity; then I realized that it was written very sloppily. In the Overview (chapter 1), the first mention of a DTD (with no explanation of what it's an abbreviation of), states "XML supports but does not require DTDs". Great. Good thing I knew what a DTD was, because this book wasn't going to tell me. Four pages later, the book tells me, "As you have already learned, a DTD defines rules for document contents." Well, I sure didn't "already learn" it from this book! Amazing that it references prior material that it doesn't contain! The rest of the book is more of the same. Very poor.

If you are an XML guru, then a high-density syntax reference may be all you need. You will note that those who have given positive reviews were all reasonably accomplished in XML and happy for the reference material. However, as someone that had never even seen any XML, I found the tutorial incomprehensible. The author seems to have a terrible grasp of English, uses it sloppily, and makes errors to boot. As even those that gave a positive review seem to agree, if you want a book to learn XML give this book a wide berth.

You would think a book entitled "...in Plain English" would be about explaining a complicated subject in easily understandable terms. However, this book only gives a brief and very lame introduction to XML. Almost the entire book is a reference guide to the XML and XML related syntax. Since this information can be obtained over the Internet for free it is questionable why this book even exists (maybe that's why they didn't name it more appropriately "Another XML Reference Guide").

This is not a teach you XML but more of a this is what XML looks like and this is why each item is there. It takes you step by step in the creation of XML documents but left out enough that after reading it I couldn't start from scratch. I found the book not very helpful in teaching me XML. It may put XML in plain english but doesn't mean you will know or understand it.

Think of this book like you would think of a dictionary -- not great reading material, but good to look stuff up in. Please do not think that this is a book for beginners. Like a dictionary, you need to have some idea of the language in order to get any use of it. If you are a current user of XML, then you will find this book to be a great reference to have for those times when you juuuuust can't remember the syntax (how to write a command so the computer understands it). After the syntax are good examples that put the command in perspective.

Yikes! I'm surprised to see such poor reviews on this book, which I consider to be one of the best XML reference books I've purchased. The title is misleading, it should be called, "The most comprehensive XML/XSL/XPath/XPointer/XLink/Style-Sheet reference book you'll ever see."

A hold-your-hand tutorial it is not. An information packed grammar (EBNF form no less!) & syntax reference on XML, DTD's, XSL/XSLT, XPath, XPointer, XLink, and Style-sheets it is. The information density of this book is astounding. Tutorial books you use once, reference books you use forever.

My job required me to learn XML, XSLT & XPath. The learning I did online and it made me realize I needed a reference book; I consider this book to be one of the best deals I've gotten on this subject. When I found it I immediately recognized it as a diamond among XML books, which I have confirmed as I use it every time I work with XML.

Poor points: although this book purports to include a tutorial, it is very brief (the last 1/4 of the book). The tutorial section is more of a refresher if you've already learned the concepts in detail elsewhere. The usage examples in the reference section of the book (the first 3/4) are a bit weak and not always enlightening. There is a lot of "related info" cross references that doesn't seem useful to me.

This is the kind of book that will remain on your desk long after the "XML for Dummies" books have been digested and are collecting dust. I would definitely reccomend this reference book for the serious XML/XSL/XPath/XPointer/XLink user as a comprehensive reference guide.

I'm almost certain I speak both English and technical English. I definitely speak HTML and I can parse XML.

So why is it that I stopped and re-read two full pages trying to determine what they were trying to say? And came away knowing merely that I had been correct on my first pass; no actual useful definition of the terms was given in those pages.

Also, Plain English structure puts the Tutorial first rather than last...

First of all, this is a book for people who know their stuff and need to be able to go an extra mile without spending an hour wading through deteriorating Web. Even tutorial part is for people who know and understand a lot and that is how it should be for a book which is already too heavy.

Things that could be better - information on case sensitivity of Xpath functions and patterns, marking up which stylesheet elelments are in CSS1, which in CSS2 and which in neither, more complete table of Unicode character references (to include full ASCII for example including interpunction), 8-bit Character set tables and mapping to Unicode, font, leading, and even margins could be a level smaller to make book thinner, lighter and more dense for everyday use, the "Releted Properties,Objects etc." could go to a small print to both not eat up the space and be faster to spot when needed.

The book does NOT teach anything about XML. It is just a syntax reference, that too not very handy. Complete waste of money.

It looks like she copied the XML spec and filled in a few gaps. No real original thought. Not worth the price.