2 comments about The XML CD Bookshelf.

1. My goodness, this one is a whammy!! Aside from a hard copy 2nd edition of XML in a Nutshell, the CD contains the complete editions of the same book XML in a Nutshell (2nd Edition), XSLT, XML Schema, SAX2, Java & XML (2nd Edition), Java and XSLT, and Perl & XML. Each one of these books is deserving of its own review, but suffice it to say that having them all on CD just makes it more convenient to carry around. (I already have reviews on XML in a Nutshell and Java and XML.)

   Developing a hernia by carrying the hard copy editions of these around is not my idea of a good time, so having the CD takes the cake. Of course, you'll need a laptop to actually be able to make use of the CD, and that'll leech battery power if you don't have a socket handy, so it's a toss-up either way. Still, the CD edition is searchable, so that you don't have to wiggle through the index of 7 books just to find that reference you needed.

   All in all, a great deal!




2. I don't know how many times I have come across a problem or a question that a colleague or I have, but are not able to recall which book the material was covered in. That problem is solved with this collection of books bound on CD. Every single one of the books on this CD are written so well and are so easy to access that if you are looking for anything regarding XML this book is a must have.

   My only gripes about the series are that only one of the books encompasses the general ideas of XML. Each book, other than nutshell, has its own detail-oriented way of discussing the topic at hand. You must really read each one (read skim) to really get exactly what you are looking for. Maybe I was looking for more reference type material, but the collection is still awesome.

No comments about Powering Office 2003 with XML (Power Pack Series).

5 comments about Visual Basic(R) .NET Developer's Guide to ASP .NET, XML and ADO.NET (White Book).

1. This book is good for beginners and mid level .NET developers; it can also be used as a reference, too. It is concise and it contains complete examples (hello W...). The author does not assume that you have VS.NET, which can be a plus for some.

   I have other books written by Jeffery McManus. This book is just as good. I would like to see more books written by this author but on the advance side, for those who mainly use VS.NET as their development environment.




2. This book is very easy to read, and the examples in the book are all easy to follow. It provides enough information for people who are new to .NET and those who need a reference tool. The book has a good background on Visual Basic .NET, ASP.NET, XML, and ADO.NET. Very easy to understand.

   Chapter 2 provides good information for migrating from ASP to ASP.NET. It helps ASP 3.0 developers understand the differences between ASP 3.0 and ASP.NET and what needs to be changed. This book also discusses the general idea of Web Services, XML and ADO.NET with very simple examples. Having this makes it very helpful in understanding the corrolation of all the .NET features. You may want to pick up other books if you want to know more about these topics. I was able to use some of the examples in my development work, the examples are very nicely written and very well explained. This book, as is, can be a good tool for both learning .NET and used as a reference in future development work. I recommend the book. ---Reviewed by Annie W.




3. I would recommend this book for those VB/ASP developers who wish to get a basic guide to migrating to the new .NET technology. It does assume some previous knowledge of ASP development. It is useful as a handy reference for major features of .NET ASP development. I would not recommend it for those just getting started with ASP.NET.

   The book is well organized for the amount of subject matter covered. I found it somewhat daunting at first, since the author gets right into the new features of ASP.NET without a lot of background and foundation theory. Some may find this cutting to the chase as a feature, but the subject of migration is no small task.

   Going on to the page framework and configuration chapters, however provided a more rewarding journey. The book provides some basic knowledge needed for configuring and deploying an ASP application. This is an important topic that many books do not cover as thoroughly.

   The coverage of Web services is quite sufficient to get one started on their way to developing web service based applications. The code examples are well organized and easy to navigate and relate well to illustrate the text. The book is not, however a guide on style or technique - you'll need to develop that elsewhere.

   The sections on XML and ADO.NET are enough to get started with a good understanding of how these topics are so importantly tied into ASP.NET applications.

   Overall, the authors provide a great deal of detailed information without a lot of unnecessary verbiage. The book makes a reasonably good reference worth keeping at hand. -- Reviewed by Richard S.




4. As an experienced VB and ASP developer, I have spent the last year trying to make some progress in developing ASP.NET applications. 5-6 book purchases helped, but I never could really get the hang of it, until I got this book. After a very enjoyable time reading this book, and working through the examples, I am now going back through the other books, getting much more understanding from them.

   It's hard for me to say why this book proved to be so much more helpful, but it did. Jeffrey McManus is a good speaker and author, and this is the first book I've read from Chris Kinsman. Maybe it's their language that helped me, maybe it was the subjects they chose to spend time on, but one way or another, this book opened the floodgates for me.

   A couple of things I can definitely say that I found to be head and shoulders above other books are:

   1) Lack of errors/typos, etc. I'm not saying there aren't any, but this book definitely was not one of those that make it harder to learn simply because you think what you are reading is right, and it isn't. I had zero problems like that.

   2) Easy to follow code examples. So many books I've read make their examples too complex, expecting that you know everything that they are doing except for the one narrow thing they are trying to teach you. Like using regular expressions to validate email addresses before you save them to the database, and this in an example of "how to save to the database." This book has none of that junk. Each example cuts to the core of what it is trying to show you, and makes sure to explain it all, step by step.

   I can't wait for these guys to team up again.




5. Every now and then, a book comes along that I feel deserves 5 stars. This is one of those books. This book targets the intermediate Visual Basic.Net developer but someone trying to learn Visual Basic.Net, ASP.Net, ADO.Net, or XML will find that this book is easy to read. Chapters 1 through 10 cover ASP.Net, Chapter 11 covers XML, and Chapter 12 covers ADO.Net. At the end of several chapters, the authors provide a mini-reference. For example, at the end of chapter 11, there is a mini-reference on XML. I use these mini-references on a daily basis. In each chapter the authors have ample examples. The amazing thing is that they all work. I followed every example and with a minor exception of 1 example in the XML Chapter, all of the examples worked. The one exception just required some minor adjustments (using the XML indentation method). This is my first book by Jeffery P. McManus and Chris Kinsman but it won't be the last. I plan to buy their equivalent book on C#. I would also buy any "advanced" books that the authors write.

   Pros: Easy to read, ample examples that work, and mini-references at the end of the chapters.

   Cons: I would like to see more illustrations in the book.

   This book is definitely a "Buy".

5 comments about Sams Teach Yourself XML in 24 Hours (2nd Edition) (Sams Teach Yourself in 24 Hours).

1. I agree with the gentleman above (Mr. Sholto L. Douglas). I am 1/4 of the way into the book and I was so disappointed I just had to read the review on this book, which I should have done prior to purchasing it. However my previous experience with SAMS books had been excellent so I purchased it at a bookstore based on the publisher. I won't make that mistake again. From now on I'll purchase from Amazon AFTER reading the reviews.

   As Mr. Douglas states the examples are sparse and poor. I am used to SAMS books providing many concise examples, analogies and exercises that aid in your learning. Not everyone learns best by theory.

   Since I have never experienced Mr. Morrison's work my disappointment lies with SAMS. They usually put out a better product. I will return this book tomorrow. There have got to be a number of books that handle this subject better.




2. After taking a beginning XML class where the required reading was the O'Reilly book on XML and XSLT (Learning XSLT) I had become completely frustrated with XML all together. I finally started diving through tech books to try to find something written in English and lo and behold Sams Teach Yourself book came to head.
   
   I did have a current knowledge of XML, but this book shed light on an otherwise dim beginning for me. And the XSLT that is in this book is without a competitor when it comes to breaking down and simplyfing the methods for getting what you need layed out on the page correctly.
   
   This book will NOT give you advanced methods such as MODE or IMAGE includes (which is a shame since these are very important); however, if you need to say, "A-HA" to creating an XML document and linking the XSLT and CSS to the file, then this is the book to pick up, jump in, then jump off into something more advanced.



3. What's good: a quick summary of major XML technologies, including DTDs, schemas, XSL, SAX, DOM, and more. This book tells briefly what each does, and gives some idea of how the pieces fit together.
   
   What's not: there's not nearly enough here to get a programmer going on a real XML project.
   
   This may help a beginner get a quick, high-level idea of what the big pieces are and how they fit together. Don't expect to get any real work done once you've read it, though.
   
   //wiredweird



4. scratching your head so much trying to figure this book out then ENJOY! In 24 hours you too can have all the confusion of XML as you when you strarted the book + be a bald! (at no extra charge to you)
   
   I will have to say if you are interested in reading a book about writing xml code about writing xml code. Then this is perfect for you.
   
   Confused? yeh me too... you'd think if someone spent the time to write a book about writing XML code they might would throw you a few more examples of how the actual code is written rather than spending the whole book talking about the history of XML.
   
   I sort of feel like I could tell you anything about XML; how it started, the cool people who could use XML, I could even tell you what XML wore to SGML's birthday party last year. I couldn't tell you how to write the code sadly enough.



5. This is one of the worst books I have ever seen.
   If not for the fact that it was bought for me, I would seriously look at returning for a refund.
   
   Unfortunatley all I can do is recommend to the schools that I deal that we dump all purchasing of the sams 24hr series.
   
   This book's index, and references to content is so badly done that it had to be done by kids because not even a computer would foul this up so badly.
   
   Even the content itself is inadequate.
   Yes I can learn the bare basics of XML with this book, but thats not much more than getting a brocure or similar info of the net for free.
   
   If I had needed real XML knowledge this book wouldnt have even come close. As it is, its not even sufficent for basic knowledge. I know because I have reference material from my job that was better (even without an index on it).
   
   I am surprised that SAMS would publish should a childish publication... My own 12 year old nephew can do a better job of proofreading & editing than the socalled professionals who did this book.
   
   Those reviewers of this book who say its well organized need to learn to read as this book is very disorganized and virtually useless as anything but a $2 primer..
   Ie; Its value is equal to a introductory primer that I have gotten in the past (litterally).
   
   I think the bigger problem is not the author but the editors/publishers,proofreaders, who seem to be incapable of reading or scanning or verifying their own work.
   
   I highly recommend not buying any SAMS book ever again.
   Especally the 24hr series. The idea of a 24hr book should be that you can learn the subject in 24hr segments (whether clocktime or 24 steps).
   
   
   An index that tells you page 134 for a item, but you find instead on page 180, or even the endofchapter stuff where it tells you to grab data from another chapter but its acutally yet somewhere else (a different chapter than specified).
   
   I wouldnt consider paying more than $2-$5 for any 24hr sams book, because you will not get your $ value out of it.
   
   I am happy though that I have been successfull in having several schools cancel current and all future dealings with sams 24hr series... Successfully eliminating at least a nice chunk of profit for 'incompetent editors/proofreaders'.
   
   
   I do wish to point out to anybody considering this book...there are much better books for the same or better price than this.
   Again if you must buy this book, get it cheap, say maybe $5 or less, that way you wont feel as ripped off.

5 comments about Metadata Solutions: Using Metamodels, Repositories, XML, and Enterprise Portals to Generate Information on Demand.

1. Overall a wandering essay. Not for the novice to data management.

   I recommend you take a look at David Marco's "Building and Managing the Meta Data Repository: A Full Lifecycle Guide" which I found to be much more useful and pointed.

   That said, if you are suffering from insomnia definitely buy this book, too!




2. This is a very good book about metadata, but I can only give it 3 stars because the author makes some very worrying (and sometimes quite amusing) mistakes.
   For example, in the preface page xxii, the UML semantics for unrefined association, aggregation and generalization are *completely* wrong. So is the syntax for UML object. This is a very worrying error for a metadata book. Finally, there is the amusing quote on page 180, "if you have mastered the art of metadata by mastering the ability to think like a tool...". In England, "tool" is actually a well-known synonym for d*rk! Not the author's fault, but one would expect an editor to pick up on something like this!
   Apart from these unfortunate errors, the book is well-written and very readable, and will certainly give you lots of useful information and techniques for working with metadata. Definitely one to keep on your bookshelf for reference. Well done Adrienne!



3. It's about time that I found this book. I am responsible for dealing with a metadata mess in my agency and nothing out there seemed to get me clear on what the real problems are. This book not only explained what should have been done but also how to fix things. Highly recommended for those that need to do something



4. If you need to get something done check this book out. not just about metadata but also about where it is and how to use it. A good spot to check possible architectures or product designs and it has lots of actual cases



5. Tannenbaum clearly knows the data storage and mining industry. She has produced a book that brings together a comprehensive view of metadata and of its parent, meta-metadata.

   It is rather easy to find a book on the details of XML, for example. Or on SQL and its various commercial and open source implementations. And on database design.

   But all these can be regarded as lower level details. What if you have several data warehouses, each with its own DBMS catalog, and the warehouses are not from the same vendor? Plus, there are manifold, quite separate application tools that read/write to these. You want to develop a coherent integrated view of the data, hopefully by using metadata descriptors. The type of texts mentioned above are of little help here. The vendor specific books typically orient you to their product alone.

   Tannenbaum has striven to fill this market gap. She explains what metadata is, and what a metamodel is. All done at a high level that frees you from the syntax of XML or SQL. Though she does use UML in many diagrams, you do not need to know UML to understand them.

   My only quibble is that perhaps some more detailed examples would have been instructive. The high level discussions are good. But some readers might miss the significances of some remarks. More explicit pedagogic examples might drive home the points.

No comments about Java Tools: Using XML, EJB, CORBA, Servlets and SOAP.

5 comments about Programming Microsoft SQL Server(TM) 2000 with XML, Second Edition.

1. Although this book didn't go quite as in depth as I would have liked it to, it was well layed out and had a lot of practical examples. Everything in it was easy to follow and focused on making the technology work instead of delving into the techie jargon about the theory behind it. This book won't make you an expert, but will give you enough to be able to start plugging this stuff into your projects pretty quickly.



2. I never expected so much useful information into such a small book. Good books don't sell by weight or page count.
   I found this book concise and clear (this man knows how to teach). It sure doesn't explain everything about the subject, but it gives the big picture, with an impressive number of details too.
   Ideal to start working in small time.
   NOTE about who is this book for:
   As title state, this book teaches how to use the XML features of SQL Server 2000, not how to use SQL2000, so if you don't know SQL Server you better read something else first.
   From the XML XSL XPath X... side, this book is also for novices as it has a very good appendix that teaches all you need to understand the book.



3. Most of the reviews here seem to relate to the first edition (which was admittedly kind of short). The book has been updated, and the second edition covers new stuff like XSD Schemas, Diffgrams, SOAP Virtual Names, and all the other SQLXML 3.0 features. I found the book really useful, and easy to read. The examples are great and the concepts are all well explained. Definitely worth buying if you're planning to use SQL Server's XML functionality.



4. This is a great book for a beginner of SQL Server 2000 and XML. Starts off from scratch and walks you thru every aspect of XML and building a complete XML enabled web pages.

   This is a good book for any one that is looking to find over all information that can give glimpse into the features of SQL Server and be able to utilize to build XML-enabled data-pages.




5. The book reached me in a near perfect condition and in right time.
   
   Thanks guys!

5 comments about XML Step by Step, Second Edition (Step By Step (Microsoft)).

1. This is a book for beginners. I bought the first edition and it gave me all the important information about XML before I started working with it. When I first read it, I thought it was a wonderful book and it was very easy to understand. You will now what's XML in one week and you'll be able to start using it in only two days just by looking at the examples.

   Unfortunately, right now I know there's so much more out there about XML than the information contained on the book and believe me, once that you read it, you are never going to used it again because it's not a good book for reference.

   I would recommend you to look for a different book with more examples, source code, advanced features or even one that can be used as a reference in your future work.




2. Some experience with HTML might be mandatory. But, the examples are excellent and easy to follow. And the text is neither dry nor simple minded.



3. I am one of those freaks who would look at a bezillion books before settling with one. (Talking about computer books ofcourse!). This is especially significant when it comes to XML because there is so much tech jargon out there & it is really hard find a book that does not get lost in the details & instead introduce us to the core right away. This book does exactly that. You will start writing decent xml right away.
   
   The following will be helpful.
   
   1. HTML knowledge (a little)
   2. The concept of scripts
   3. The concept of CSS
   4. The concept of XML
   
   When I say 'the concept of', I am only talking about a surface level, "Purpose of existence" kind. Even if you don't know anything about XML, you will be fine with this book.
   
   The book gradually introduces the concepts & does a very neat job of explaining new ideas.
   
   Peace.



4. I am just learning XML for the first time and this book walks me through it the way I need to be walked through it.



5. Superb organization and presentation of the material. All code functions, all examples are relevant. Excellent development of the topics. Were all texts to be this will organized.

5 comments about SOAP: Cross Platform Web Services Development Using XML.

1. It's understandable that the author donot have much time in
   writing this book. But I think both the publisher and the
   author should be serious on writing a book.

   Overall, it's not professional!




2. Sorry to say, but I felt this book was no more than a first draft . At the end of it, I had no clear idea on how to write a SOAP message without refering to many other books or the spec itself. Sure the book gave me a basic overview of SOAP, but not one that I could take away and use, and gave me an overall impression that SOAP is complicated and messy. This was a rushed effort, and a waste of time. If this is one of the best books available on SOAP, then it doesn't say much for the technical authors currently working on it.



3. I've read about SOAP and Web Services from other books and have always come out with questions about how certain ideas work "under the hood". I feel that I really understand a concept if I know how it works at the wire level. The problem with many of the books out there is that they give you a very good coverage of the technology but not much insight into the fundamentals. Scott Seely's book on the other hand gives you a very balanced view of SOAP. It discusses XML schemas and the SOAP messaging protocol. Immediately, Scott jumps into implementing a SOAP server by hand which is essential to understanding how SOAP really works (and to learn to appreciate the need for SOAP frameworks that are currently available on various systems). The book is worth just for this chapter, if nothing else. The case study of an auction system puts a nice finishing touch, rounding off a comprehensive top to bottom treatment of SOAP.



4. There are two extremely catagories of books.
   1. Explain unclear concepts with clear logic and clear language.
   2. Explain clear concepts with unclear logic and unclear languege.
   This book definitely belongs to the second catagory.
   How hard XML scheme syntax could be? This book can screw all of them up.
   It wastes of your time if you did not already know what SOAP is.



5. I felt this book was poorly organized, and lacking in the type of information I wanted.

   Chapter 1 is a history of the computer, starting with the abacus. (I'm not kidding.) Chapter 2 is an overview of XML, which might have been useful except that this book is clearly not aimed at people unfamiliar with XML. Chapter 3 is a rehash of the SOAP specification. While potentially interesting, this chapter (like the specification itself) is a blow-by-blow discussion of very minute details of the SOAP syntax. This chapter would have been better as an appendix. Better yet, just provide a hyperlink to the SOAP specification for those who are interested.

   The remainder of the book is made up of two example applications and some "oh by the way" disccusions of issues more or less related to SOAP itself. Chapter 4 discusses a "simple" SOAP application in great detail. This was the chapter I found most nearly useful. Chapters 5 and 6 cover WSDL and UDDI, not SOAP. Chapter 7 talks about vendor-specific implementations of SOAP--a chapter that is already totally outdated. Chapter 8 through the end discusses a single large application built using soap. For me, Chapter 4 was the only one that came close to providing real value.

   In summary, this is yet another "talk about anything to fill up the pages" book. If you remove 100+ pages of raw source code, 5 chapters that give general introductions to the history of the computer, XML, WSDL, and UDDI, you wind up with about 40 pages of poorly organized, scattered writings about SOAP itself. Not worth the [the money], in my opinion.

1 comments about New Perspectives on XML- Introductory.

1. I have taught a course using this text for a number of semesters. It is by far the best XML text I have found. The tutorial examples Patrick Carey includes in all his books are well thought out and demonstrate the best use of the technology he presents. I personally do not use the copy of XML Spy included with the text - I prefer other editors - but it is handy to have this trial version for someone who doesn't want to find an editor on their own.