XML: The Annotated Specification (Paperback)

by Bob DuCharme (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Provides a guide to the often arcane language of XML, computer science & standards that you find in the official specifications. The author presents the entire official specifications & all the help & interpretation you need to make the most of it. Paper.

From the Back Cover

"The official W3C XML spec-by design-is a concise and formal document. Bob DuCharme has annotated the full text of that spec with explanations, insights and over 170 new usage examples. The result is a marvelous reference for XML users and implementors." — Charles F. Goldfarb

The complete XML standard-as approved by the W3C-explained in detail by a leading XML expert and author!

Serious about XML? No matter what other XML books you own, the final word is the official W3C specification, and you should own a copy. Now there is a guide to the often arcane language of XML, computer science and standards that you find in the official spec-XML: The Annotated Specification. In this book, XML insider Robert DuCharme presents the entire official spec-and all the help and interpretation you need to make the most of it. XML: The Annotated Specification delivers: Extensive annotations to every paragraph of the XML specification: documents, logical structures, physical structures, conformance, notation and more. Over 170 new real-world examples that illuminate every nook and cranny of the spec's subtle details. A comprehensive glossary of relevant XML and computer science terms. All the background information you need to understand XML's goals and ongoing evolution. New cross-reference tables for easy navigation of the annotated spec.

DuCharme doesn't just tell you what's in the XML spec, he reveals why decisions were made as they were; the information you need to achieve maximum results. With XML: The Annotated Specification, you have an authoritative source for the final word on everything XML-and the more you work with the language, the more valuable it will get.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; annotated edition edition (December 14, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130826766
• ISBN-13: 978-0130826763
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,441,160 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile reference, September 24, 2000

By	Zane Parks (Livermore, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This contains the XML specification with annotation by the author. Text from the specification is printed on shaded background so there is no confusing the specification and the author's annotation. One of the design goals of the XML working group was: "The design of XML shall be formal and concise." The PDF version of the specification runs to thirty-two pages. So, an annotated version of the specification is welcome. Annotation consists of illustration, clarification, background and examples. While the blurb on the back cover says that the book includes over 170 "real-world" examples, that is a stretch. The author frequently uses intuitively meaningful element and attribute names in meaningless combinations. For example, this is offered as an example of an attribute declaration with a default value (p. 111): <!ATTLIST chapter flavor CDATA "mint">. In a similar vein, the author provides illustrations of element content models with no apparent use. For example, <!ELEMENT section (chapter, (appendix|index)*, glossary)>. Real "real-world" examples facilitate not only our formal understanding of XML, but also its proper use. Having said all that, I should add that I do think the book worthwhile. Note that this is on the recommended reading list for IBM's XML certification test.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I bought two copies!, July 21, 2000

By	Jim Gabriel (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews

If you need to get up to speed on the XML recommendation for serious application development, this book is a very informative explanation of W3C's results. It's an excellent reference work. It provides thoughtful insights into some fairly complicated subjects. Colleagues wanted to read my first copy so much that I bought another one. It is not a tutorial, not a hands-on code walk-through, and not for the casual user. It's precisely what it says it is -- the "annotated specification".

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wish more specs had companion commentaries, December 21, 1999

By	David Curtis (Woodland Hills, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Despite some problems relating to clarity, I gave this book 4 stars because it fills a dire need: it provides annotation and rationale to an otherwise tedious, opaque specification. (I don't mean to single out the XML spec here; it's better than most. Specifications, by their very nature [i.e., formal] are difficult to read.)

The book has been very useful to me, not as an introduction to XML, but as a reference.