Professional XML, 2nd Edition (Programmer to Programmer) (Paperback)

by Mark Birbeck (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Professional XML is aimed toward seasoned Web or general application developers as a guide for developing sophisticated, real-world XML solutions. It successfully meets the most pressing need for programmers new to XML by putting all of the various component technologies into clear context.

The near boundless potential of XML also means there is much ground to cover, and this book cuts no corners in taking the reader through the network of technologies, exploring both the presentation and data exchange applications of XML. This second edition represents the current state of the ever-evolving set of XML standards, particularly the momentum toward XML Schemas.

The first couple of chapters compose an excellent XML introduction and the basic language syntax. Then the various authors delve into the individual components of XML such as document type definitions (DTD), XML Schemas, XPath, and XSLT. Most of the chapters include some concrete examples of how to implement the techniques in question. Late in the book, a full-fledged case study serves as an excellent compilation of several aspects of XML.

The book goes beyond the basics of XML to give the reader a glimpse of the still unknown potential of the technology. A fascinating chapter on Schema Based Programming (SBP)--an experimental coding technique--adds a degree of excitement to the learning process and is sure to spark innovation in any creative programmer.

Professional XML is another seminal work from Wrox. It should be required reading for anyone looking to become an XML guru. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered:

• XML introduction
• Document type definitions
• XML Schemas
• XML-Data Reduced (XDR)
• Validation tools
• XPath
• XSLT
• XLink
• XPointer
• Fragments
• Document Object Model (DOM)
• Simple API for XML version 2 (SAX2)
• Schema Based Programming (SBP)
• Data modeling
• XML data binding
• VoiceXML
• XSL-FO
• RDF
• SOAP
• Microsoft BizTalk and B2B solutions

Product Description
XML has made a major impact in almost every aspect of software development. Designed as an open, extensible, self-describing language, it has become the standard for data and document delivery on the web. The panoply of XML-related technologies continues to develop at breakneck speed, to enable validation, navigation, transformation, linking, querying, description, and messaging of data.

This is the new edition of Professional XML, updated to cover the latest developments in XML. This book provides a thorough and practical grounding in the core XML technologies and shows some of the key applications of XML in computing, from presenting and adding meaning to information on the Web, through using it as a data interchange format, to enabling open business-to-business computing.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 1269 pages
• Publisher: Peer Information; 2 edition (May 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861005059
• ISBN-13: 978-1861005052
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #222,479 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #9 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Databases > XML & Databases
  #45 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Languages & Tools > XML
  #78 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Software Design, Testing & Engineering > Structured Design

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

117 of 126 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good reference book, not a learning one, March 20, 2000

By	Maxime Bombardier (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Professional XML (Paperback)

I've found this book very hard to understand as a first book on XML. If you know what XML is about but are looking for practical real-life exemples, look elsewhere. If you know XML and want to know everything about it's internal work and how to work with DTD, that would be your book.

I've also ordered the Professional XML IE5 Programmer's Reference at the same time and this book gave me an overview of what I can do with XML on the Internet and THEN I had an idea of what to do of the Professional XML book.

You have to ask you those questions : Do I need to know how to show XML with XSL, ASP, DHTML, HTML? If yes, look elsewhese first. Do I need an XML reference to know how to create XML files? If yes, look no further.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ATTN: unix/java engineers -- way too much IE/VBScript/MS!, August 28, 2000

By	dan bender (baltimore, md United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Professional XML (Paperback)

I guess I expected that a platform independent standard such as XML would have been better expained using a platform independent language such as java. For the unix/java engineers out there....this book contains much useful information and don't get me wrong, I learned a lot. The question is, would I have learned as much or possibly more if I didn't have to put up with 90% of the code examples written in VBScript? Many examples require Internet Explorer. Content was up-to-date and informative but somewhat repetative (12 authors).

51 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly what I needed, very timely..., February 21, 2000

By	J. Wright (Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Professional XML (Paperback)

If you have started to play with XML but need to know where to go, this is the book for you. I rate this one as a "must have" book from Wrox just like the Professional ASP book... both are the top books on the market in their respective fields. I am using XML for content transformation and for Server to Server solutions so I was getting stuff done (in xml) but still had lots of questions. This book covers all the basic stuff and goes into some future technology as well but for the most part this book is for the working programmer who has to produce code quickly but couldn't figure everything out from site hopping.