XML Programming with VB and ASP (Paperback)

~ (Author), Tracey Wilson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a well-written book for experienced VB programmers and ASP developers to introduce them to XML programming...5 stars out of 5." -- Mitch Tulloch of Swynk.com

Product Description

This book is an introduction to XML for both beginner and intermediate Visual Basic and Active Server Page developers with over 50 pages of example code. It provides a best-practices approach to VB development and explains 3-tier concepts and UML. Also discussed are business-focused reasons for implementing XML within a company and on Web sites.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Manning Publications; 1st edition (December 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1884777872
• ISBN-13: 978-1884777875
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,318,278 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction and overview of XML, VB, and ASP, April 17, 2000

By	Mr. Ian W. Stirk (London) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a short introduction and overview to using XML with ASP and VB. It should take your understanding of XML from beginner to intermediate. Plenty of code samples are provided to illustrate the concepts. This is very much a practical book.

The book does contain several typos, and some of the sample code does not work correctly. However these are minor points.

Many XML books are quite esoteric and concentrate on the detail. This book takes an alternative approach of giving the reader details of the most relevant XML objects, properties and methods. In essence the reader gets a kick-start into the practical world of XML.

You may need to read the book twice (or at least the code-related chapters 4 and 6) to get the most from it.

The book contains several important snippets of information sources (e.g. Schema tools, generating a DTD from XML data), which could be quite rewarding.

The book tries to be comprehensive and detailed (e.g. by giving a n-tier application) but it probably fails in this since it also brief. Additionally only very brief details of schemas and BizTalk are given.

Overall an enjoyable read.

34 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Loosing stars by the minute - missing bits of code maybe, April 10, 2000

By A Customer

I had high expectations for this book after reading the reviews, and it seemed to be just what I was looking for. Practical examples of how to use it with ASP. Well, I must admit, the style of writing is far less dry than other XML books. But...the typos, and missing details are driving me nuts!

In trying to type in the example code I'm getting *very* frustrated. In working through chapter 4, I just can't get the example of standalone data islands to work. The section labeled 'full source code' can't possibly be. I need the source code for the data island AND the html file. There isn't enough detail to make it work.

So, figuring I'd skip that and move on, well now just a short bit latter 4.4.11, I've typed the code in exactly, and checked it mulitple times, but my button bar keeps ending up in the wrong place. NEXT to the table rather than under it! I try putting in the standard HTML tags to fix it (p, br, etc) and none of it works. Why?

I consider myself to be pretty good with HTML, and intermediate in ASP (2 years or so) yet just can't get these things working. The book web site has nothing under the errata section either!

I'm going to keep plugging at it, but this book is loosing stars by the minute.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Practical, Real World Presentation, February 24, 2000

By	Richi Shinn (Richmond, VA, USA) - See all my reviews

I've finished the first read of the book and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I did find two glaring omissions I will comment on at this time.

1.) I enjoyed chapter 7 and the remarks concerning the DOM. The object model is vast and here it is reduced to the 100 or so pages of stuff I'll actually use with examples. All the other books I've read uses the standard filler docs re-worked only for format and not content (what better way to add an additional 300+ pages?).

2.) Also missing is the section where the author dryly discusses the virtues of one Java based parser over that of another. This of course would be accompanied by TERRIBLY abstract IXMLDOM example code where the author demonstrates his mastery of the inane. I enjoyed the authors' treatment on this in chapter 4 with the real world examples I can relate to.

In the past, I have spent hundreds of dollars on books and training material that has left me more confused than when I first started. This book presented the material in a clear and straight forward manner and I consider it to be the best 30 bucks I've spent this year. I will buy a 6-pack of this book and distribute them to my people. If they then can't understand the XML, I'll just get new people.