Mastering XML is certainly difficult, but XML Applications provides all the background you'll need to get started. Early sections outline why XML is a better way to deliver Internet content. The authors look at available XML tools (including freeware utilities and the Internet Explorer 5 beta) and XML basics, such as Document Type Definitions (DSDs), cascading style sheets (CSS), and Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL). The authors also present real-world implementations of XML, including Microsoft's Channel Definition Format and the Chemical Markup Language (for chemists).
Next, the book moves on to the nitty-gritty of building XML documents, including design considerations, conventions, and using custom tags. Information on XML and databases follows, and then the authors highlight important XML topics, such as namespaces, XLinks and XPointers (for linking content), and the XML document object model.
Later sections of the book turn to practical XML samples. First, SQL Server 6.5 is used with an XML phone-list entry application. Another example for distributing technical papers shows off the potential of using XML to work with Internet agents. A third application uses Java and XML to automatically generate static HTML for slide photographs and descriptions, a timesaving idea for Webmasters.
The importance of XML is growing, and XML Applications provides URLs of Web sites that can provide more on emerging standards. This book gives the reader state-of-the-art information in today's XML with plenty of useful technical knowledge. --Richard Dragan
Dr. Dobb's Electronic Review of Computer Books
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There's little doubt that XML (Extensible Markup Language) is among the emerging technologies that will gain a wide and significant acceptance. In particular, this means that companies will be writing real-world applications and services based on it. Why? Because XML is a powerful tool when designing Web applications and a universal data format to marshal information across the various tiers of the system. XML describes data, no matter the language, platform, or format. This principle emerges clearly from XML Applications, by Frank Boumphrey et al. This is the first book that tries to bring XML to a wide audience by explaining how to take advantage of it in your own projects. --Dino Esposito, Dr. Dobb's Electronic Review of Computer Books
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