Professional XML (Programmer to programmer) - Softcover

Ozu, Nikola; Etc.; Anderson, Richard; Duckett, Jon; Watt, Andrew; Mohr, Stephen; Williams, Kevin; Gudmundsson, Oli Gauti; Marcus, Daniel; Kobak, Pete; Lenz, Evan; Birbeck, Mark; Zaev, Zoran; Livingstone, Steven; Pinnock, Jonathan; Visco, Keith

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1861005059 ISBN 13: 9781861005052

Publisher: WROX Press Ltd, 2001

Synopsis

Chapters written by professional programmers discuss XML specification and navigation, linking, XSLT, presentation technologies, databases, messaging, and B2B applications.

About this title

Review:

With over 1,200 pages, Professional XML is a comprehensive guide. It makes you wonder if XML has now become too big a subject for a single book. The problem is not so much XML itself but all the related technologies and applications, such as XSLT for transforming XML, SAX for parsing it and SOAP for calling remote procedures using XML messages. Some XML titles, like O'Reilly's XML in a Nutshell, manage to be more concise by focusing only on the core of XML. The downside with such titles is that you will need further resources in order to get an idea of how XML can usefully be put to work. Professional XML is better in this respect, because it is more wide ranging and has case studies and examples.

The early sections of the book cover XML basics: syntax, validation using DTDs (Document Type Definitions) and Schema, navigation with XPath and use of XSLT. Next there is a look at programming XML through the DOM (Document Object Model), SAX 2 and through advanced XSLT. An extensive database section includes chapters on data modelling, data binding with the Java-based Castor specification and use of XQuery. The later chapters cover XML applications including SVG for scalable graphics, XSL FO (Formatting Objects) for document presentation, RDF (Resource Description Framework) for transporting meta data, SOAP and finally business-to-business messaging with Microsoft BizTalk server and with UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration).

Professional XML is a detailed if rather dry tour of XML from a developer's perspective. It maintains a fair balance between Java and Microsoft implementations of XML tools. Overall it makes a valuable one-volume resource, although most developers will want to supplement it with more specialist XML titles. --Tim Anderson

From the Author:

An interview with Steven Livingstone from Professional XML 2nd Edition (June 2001)

1. What do you think is the major selling point of this book (or what does this book do that others don't)?

This is the latest XML book on the market. The world of XML has changed considerably over the last couple of years and this book gives insight into how XML technologies are being employed today, as well as a view to the future of XML. The authors come from a diverse set of industries and so you get a rich set of views on how XML is being used in the real world.

2. What area do you think XML isn't currently well represented in, and do you think this book helps to address that?

Although they are emerging technologies, I think the whole e-Business and Web Services integration is going to become rapidly important in the Enterprise. This book gives a good overview and understanding of the technical implementation requirements and issues, as well as some coding on how to achieve this.

3. This book describes the current W3C Recommendation for XML Schema, do you think this technology will have a large effect on XML usefulness?

I am a big fan of XML Schema. Everything should be associated with a schema to simplify issues from development to integration and maintenance. Integration is one of the keys. Even internally integration, or understanding the data, often proves to be difficult. In the Internet it doesn't get any easier. XML Schema will prove to be a big success in simplifying these areas, although I still see way too many standards and vocabulary registries out there, which will hopefully settle down as certain ones are adopted at large by user communities.

4. Which XML technology do you think it is most important for 'programmers' to become familiar with? (eg: Schemas, XSLT, etc)

Schemas are the building blocks for understanding XML as a whole. Without understanding this, you don't really know WHY you would want to use XSLT for example: why would you want to transform something? In essence, schemas define the domain of XML and although there are many directions you can go in, most will involve XML Schema in some manner.

5. In your opinion what is the most exciting XML technology, and why?

For me, Schemas is the most important. Now, the most exciting for me is probably how these become employed worldwide. As it is so easy to create a new Schema, the challenge exists in reusing and incorporating schemas from other vocabularies and applications. Why have 7 million address vocabularies when all we need is one good one? I don't ever expect to see just one, but perhaps one day a few instances of such a schema fragment will be used in millions of applications worldwide !

6. What got you into XML?

I had been fiddling about with XML for content mark-up and thought it was pretty neat. However, I always saw XML doing something more and as I got involved in XML RPC and started looking at many of the emerging XML technologies for ways to improve on what XML RPC offered. That has now expanded into many of the newer areas of XML such as RDF and the Semantic Web stuff coming out of the W3C at the moment.

About this edition

• Publisher: WROX Press Ltd
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1861005059
• ISBN 13: 9781861005052
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 1200