1 comments about XPath Kick Start: Navigating XML with XPath 1.0 and 2.0 (Kick Start).

1. I am already familiar with XSLT and XPATH 1.0 so i found the initial 5 chapters kinda dumbed down. the 6th chapter is interesting on XLINK and Xpointer but only the basics are shown here i wished a few real world implentations were used and i wish they went into XQuery more but i guess that would be another book. starting from chapter 7-12 gets interesting with all the different new functions and types in Xpath 2.0. It was an overal easy read and good for updating your XPath skills or read the initial 5 chapters to get a better view on Xpath. I would at least have an introductory experience with XSLT before u read this book although they explain intro XSLT as they go on. SUMMARY: for an intermediate, start reading from chapter 6.

5 comments about XML Step by Step (DV-DLT Fundamentals).

1. I purchased this book in hopes it would clear some things up as I took XML as a college crash class. This is an excellent starting point for those wanting to learn XML or anyone needing more explanation. The terms and procedures are explained so that you understand how and what with out going into a lot of theory. The examples are wonderful,and unlike some books, so far all the code works. It is easy to understand and it makes sense and doesn't leaving you wondering what was just said.
   I give this book a thumbs up!



2. This book is a great start to the language of XML! The author makes a lot of HTML references, but a beginner could probably grasp it. He begins with the basics and history to give the reader an great understanding of what they are about to get in to. In the first few chapters, you have mastered the basics of XML!! I highly reccomend this book! It goes slow enough for those who may get confused, but keep up the pace for those who get it quickly!



3. If you don't know anything about XML (like me two years ago), this is the first book that you should read. This book contains clear explanations backed by good samples and "step-by-step" exercises. You don't have to read the whole book to be efficient when using XML in your project. I only read the first few charters and I already began to code XML. If I can do it, so can you.



4. I had never used XML for anything, but I knew it had become very important in today's world. I was a little hesitant at first, since some MS Press books I'd read in the past were very dry and technical. To the contrary, however, this book is very well written with easy-to-understand examples. It provided me, someone who knew nothing of XML, with a very gentle introduction to the subject matter. It's very readable and you'll walk away from it with a very strong foundational knowledge of XML.



5. I used this book in 2001 to learn XML and it was great then.
   
   In the last week I have been looking at transforming xml on the client. A lot of designs transform on the server, but I really wanted to investigate a full xml approach. This shows you how to take an xml feed and use a client generated file ( XSLT or HTML ) to transform that data into a dynamic web page. Unfortunately this only works on IE, but the book explains how to do this easily.

1 comments about Pro Apache XML (Pro).

1. Show you how to apply XML in various scenarios. All scenarios are made simple with very good example. Obviously this is a not a reference book for the technologies mentioned. But to start up with those XML technologies mentioned this one is great book. You will able to quickly go through all chapters. I started with the free chapters available in their web site and decide to try other chapters.
   Obviously this not expert's voice but a very good beginners tutorials with excellent example. Again I liked their examples a lot as it is easier to understand.
   Note - It is not like Wrox books usually with too verbose in theory or too complex examples

5 comments about The XML Companion (3rd Edition).

1. ...and not for a beginner. Filled with samples and graphs-which somewhat help the extremely confusing writing style. Bradley's style reminds me of the teacher I had when I was 10 years old who found it very easy to go off on a new tangent--and very difficult to be brief, concise or clear.
   Fine for a reference, if you already know what you want.



2. Bradley's book is a pretty complete guide to XML and related technologies. The main chapters are almost tutorial in style, with plenty of code examples to follow. The end of the book contains a small reference section. The topics covered are XML, XSL, XSLT, DOM, SAX, XPath, Schemas, XLink, XHTML, and CSS. Discussions are for the most part clear and accurate. I have two main complaints about Bradley. First, the prose, while accurate, is often overly verbose. It could be written more concisely and compactly. Second, each chapter is broken into sections, but the sections are not numbered, so it is difficult to locate material in the text. The main advantage is the comprehensive general coverage of XML-related technologies. Buying this one book will arm you with the knowledge to develop XML applications and content, and it will save you money. If you have very specific needs, you may need to supplement Bradley with another more focused text that delves deeper into a particular technology. Also, if you want to see longer applications presented as case studies, you might want a different text. I recommend this book for beginning and intermediate XML users who want broad, general coverage in a single book.



3. 1. Depth and breadth of topics being covered with real application make this a solid reference for XML applications, such as Apache Cocoon 1 & 2 Frameworks. Java is indeed a natural companion to XML.
   
   2. It is not a cookbook of raw XML/XSLT/CSS/XSchema/XLink/XInclude/XPointer, etc... It actually explains the Design behind the implementation leaving one to approach implementation with foresight and focus on planning before one wastes needless hours of frustration during rushed implementations.
   
   3. It is for someone with a solid understanding of MVC (Model/View/Controller) abstraction approaches that are pervasive in OOA/OOD that includes Smalltalk, Objective-C, Java, C++, C#, Javascript, Python, Ruby, etc...
   
   4. It describes XML as a means to be both a boon for turning publishing into an Art of Reuse as well as how XML solidifies many failed attempts of standards that were not able to become language agnostic. XML and all her siblings are that meta bridge.
   
   5. With the XSL Companion those who complained about it being either difficult to grasp or tediously complex will be vindicated and appreciate returning to this book to explain all the questions that surface along the way during any project they become involved in helping solve.
   
   6. Neil is very honest that this book is about wrapping your head around the XML paradigm and not about being a Dictionary of answers to all your XML application(s) needs. It should become clear the reason behind so many XML application standards. There are just so many avenues to address how could they all possibly be expressed in just one book?



4. I bought this book when I was still trying to get my head around XML and found it much more confusing than clarifying. However, many years later, once I had a solid foundation of XML, I pulled this book back out and actually did find it mostly useful. The author covers a lot of minutia that is difficult if not impossible to find elsewhere (he devotes an entire chapter to whitespace issues, for example), and if you really have a need to understand what is going on under the hood, this book can actually serve as a handy reference. Still, I do think the material could have been better presented - chapter 6 discusses "Architectural Forms", for example. I have read and re-read the explanation several times and still cannot fathom what they are or why they would be useful... there are quite a few such topics in the book.



5. I loved this book. I've got about eight or ten XML books, but this is the one I turn to for my "Why?" questions.
   
   It's not a tutorial or cookbook, but it explains XML logically and historically. I don't sit down at my computer with this book ready to type in stuff. This is the book that I sit down with in my comfortable armchair ready to understand XML in a way that makes sense and sticks with me. It's very readable.

5 comments about XML and Web Services Unleashed.

1. While very thorough, this book is almost as dry to read as the W3 specifications on which the technology is based. Incredibly complex examples are lightly touched on leaving you the reader sifting through (in some cases) pages of listings trying to find the differences between various versions. No effort is made to help steer the user through the examples. While this is a good reference for those with a firm grasp of concepts I think it could be immeasurably better written. Also, huge leaps are being made without examples.

   3 stars for thouroughness of content, 2 deducted for being not in the least bit user-friendly.




2. Not a bad book. Especially if you want to learn some tricks to make for bigger size. For example, chapter 4 XML Schemas consists of 61 pages. 17 of them are REDUNDUND repetitions (I do not count here those that make sense) of the same schema and xml source file. The schema, about 3 pages, placed in the beginning of the chapter. Than they change an attribute in one element and "illustrate" this repeating all 3 pages.
   Systematically an element that with no problem fits in one row spans, nevertheless, two.
   There are some other useful tricks. Find yourself. It's not a bad book.



3. Just about any other book on the subject would have to better than this book. The poor writing turns simple concepts into puzzles. Although I was deeply interested in the subject matter, this book read like a college text book on a subject I was forced to take. I liked the concise code examples, but then I would cringe at the author's explanation of the code. Also to be fair, some portions of the book are actually written clearly. It is very evident that the book was put together by more than one person. Some of the good sections are quite interesting; while other sections are quite comical in a grammatical sense. Furthermore, as a science student, my English is not great. Therefore, it takes a real disaster for me to notice the writing quality.



4. In the world of computer publishing, two brands stand out when you're talking compendiums. Wrox's big red Professional series and SAMS Unleashed in their now familiar orange. Usually hit and miss affairs, 90% of the people who buy this type of book need to dip in and out of it for bits of information. However it's often the case that the quality of the text across its entire length varies quite a bit. Happily, XML and Web Services Unleashed doesn't suffer from this, with its nine author crew well edited to form a unison chorus rather than a disjointed set of voices as can sometimes be the case.

   Its four sections cover most of the current undertakings in XML as well as laying a solid reference for newcomers and those who need a quick refresher. Part 1 sets the scene, covering XML and its immediate counterparts, DTDs and Schemas. We also find its search and link associates XPath, XLink and XPointer covered precisely and well in the following chapter. The approach is pretty standard but written well and information is easy to locate.

   The main part of the book is devoted to building XML-based Applications in Java should the need for non-XML code arise. Logically, this section starts by dealing with XML documents on their own and then how to marry XML into your own applications. The SAX and DOM APIs are covered, but for .NET users, the XML Streaming API is missing. XSL coverage is good but short, covering both XSLT and XSL-FO in 60 pages. Examples of their use continue to appear for several more chapters, but would it have been too much to turn this one chapter into two? Arguably the most important chapter in the section - Integrating XML with Databases - takes a very practical view but again is Java only. .NET users need to wait another seven chapters before a section on ADO.NET can be found hidden in the chapter on XML in Visual Studio .NET

   Skipping past chapters on SVG, XHTML and Content Management, we come to the highlight of the book - three chapters on web services. However, rather than teach us how to build them, the authors have elected to show us how they work, justifying first the architecture of the web services platform and then how SOAP, WSDL and UDDI tie into that structure. It's a great read and brimming with useful information, but best of all is that it gets you, as a programmer, thinking outside of the box.

   Indeed, Section 3 is all about giving you a better appreciation of how XML works and can be applied in today's industries. It covers some of the standards used in the vertical markets of today and how those standards are submitted and ratified, looking in detail at XML in E-Business. Reading this section sequentially, you really do get an appreciation of the scope and size of the efforts being made by XML developers across the world. Finally, Section 4 looks at the nascent efforts of the semantic web community, the justification for their existence and what they have managed so far.

   I said earlier that the editing of this book was good, but if there is a flaw, it's the choice of what to cover in the book. This particular tome tries to cover the past and the future of XML in addition to its present without fully covering any of the three. It also leans towards Java users - .NET and COM heads beware. Beyond the programming chapters though, this is as thorough an expose of XML in its many guises as you're likely to find and it's a good one too. But don't forget to check the table of contents before you buy it.This is XML Unleashed, not XML and Web Services Unleashed. A classic case of marketing misinformation, if ever there was one.




5. This book suffers badly from two problems: multiple authors and padding. Padding makes some of the sections too "chatty", while paradoxically failing in providing a good explanation of the material. Multiple authors makes the quality of the content sections very variable. At best they are adequate, at worst appauling.
   
   Take the XML Schema chapter. Its painful to read, with complex examples badly explained and a more or less random list of individual features explained not very well. Understanding XML Schema by reading this chapter is like learning a foreign language by reading a dictionary.
   
   There are FAR better choices for XML coverage, such as the OReilly series.

1 comments about An Introduction to Xml And Web Technologies.

1. This is what I wrote the authors of this book:
   
   Dear Anders and Michael,
   
   I recently purchased your book entitled "An Introduction to XML and Web Technologies". I started reading it and I must say that you have done a wonderful job. It reads with ease and your presentation style is as limpid as pure mountain water. I particularly enjoy the fact that you are doing a masterful and in-depth tutorial of several of the recent outputs of the W3C's language mill without losing your critical mind and making accurate remarks for several annoying idiosyncrasies owing their existence more to historical and political reasons rather than simple efficient scientific design.
   
   At any rate, I congratulate you on an excellent book and look forward to reading more of your didactic and scientific publications.
   
   [...]
   
   It would be very interesting to envisage a book in the style of
   yours on the so-called Semantic Web. I, for one, as ILOG's current Principal rep in the W3C Rule Interchange Format WG, would welcome your critical eye and approach to this vast and unchartered domain.
   
   Thanks again for writing this book. I will definitely recommend it as an effective and concise reference to the subject to anyone - whether newbie or old-timer.
   
   Best regards,
   
   -hak
   --
   Hassan Aït-Kaci, Ph.D, Distinguished Scientist R&D
   ILOG, Inc. - http://www.ilog.com/ - Product Division
   Surrey, BC, Canada - Fri Aug 25 07:40:40 2006 PST

5 comments about Structuring XML Documents.

1. This book delivers exactly what it says it will: the _whole_ gist on the technical aspects of drafting a Document Type Definition and on the theoretical aspects of defining an optimal way of structuring information. The author dominates his subject and his discussion on the fine points of information structuring is clever and challenging.

   The only thing that is keeping me from giving it an otherwise well-deserved five-star is the utterly meagre index, a surprising fact in such a book!




2. The best book available... it covers everything you need to know about DTDs.

   I guess this book may have originated as an SGML book so has examples oriented more towards SGML authors. These examples are not oriented towards Internet Programmers.

   Still, the author did a pretty good job at seperating XML and SGML specific details.

   Simply put, If you need to design a DTD then you need this book.




3. This is not a book for beginners. There's a brief introduction to XML, but you need a fairly good grounding there before picking this book up. The author uses five industrial-strength model DTDs for documents as a basis for discussing the analysis and design of DTDs. These are briefly introduced, compared and contrasted. HTML is one of the five, not so much because it's a good example, but because it's widely known and used. The heart of the book is devoted to principles for analysis and design. These focus on the user -- ease of learning, of use, and of processing. Some desirable features tend to conflict, for example, there's a trade-off between simplicity and providing sufficient features to meet authors needs. Throughout the model DTDs are used to illustrate principled (or unprincipled) desgin. All in all, the book provides a good basis for reading, writing and understanding non-trivial, real-world DTDs.



4. This is an excellent book for someone who is responsible for creating and maintaining dtds for large projects. The purpose of the book is not to teach the beginner what a dtd is. Rather it is meant to teach you to tell the difference between good dtd design and bad. The emphasis is on dtds that are for complex documents rather than those that are for transmission of database records. None the less, some of the material applies to both types of dtds. The author does not tell you what to do. Rather he tells you what issues you need to consider. There is a section that warns you of the problems that may arrise during the maintenance phase of a project. When a change is made to a dtd, there may be a backlog of legacy documents that were valid according to the old dtd but are no longer valid with the new one. I think this section of the book is a bit too methodical and long-winded. Even so the issue is crucial and needs some treatment.



5. I don't use XML very often. When I come back to it, it's like learning XML all over again. That's why I like Megginson's book. It's clear, detailed and gives all the basics needed for competent, flexible data design.
   
   I said "data design," not "document design" as some might have expected. Although XML grew out of SGML, a document markup system, it's used for lots more than just text formatting. That's why Megginson focusess so heavily on the DTD, the "data type definition" for any XML application. Any one document uses XML commands to organize a specific set of data, and the DTD specifies a well-formed organization. It's the grammar of the document, like a database's schema. It's what defines the principles used to organize the data. Best of all, Megginson describes DTDs in terms of five well-known and freely available DTDs.
   
   This book is old by internet standards, however. DTDs are being supplanted by XML schemas, which are not mentioned. Conversions between formats are now managed by XSLT most often, not "architectural forms." The DocBook standard has moved to the Oasis consortium (oasis-open.org). The XML standards family has grown, but this book is locked to the time in which it was written.
   
   Even then, I had one real complaint about this book. Megginson took great care to distinguish XML from its SGML parent, giving detailed descriptions of SGML features not present in XML. It was sometimes confusing to read around the discussions of features that aren't there. If necessary at all, the information would have been better placed in footnotes, appendices, or some text typographically set off from the main discussion.
   
   I'll have to replace this book sooner or later, but I haven't found anything that discusses newer XML usages and still meets this standard of clarity. In the mean time, I can keep puttering along with this book - it's old, but hardly obsolete.
   
   //wiredweird

5 comments about MCAD Developing XML Web Services and Server Components with Visual C#(TM) .NET and the .NET Framework Exam Cram 2 (Exam Cram 70-320) (Exam Cram 2).

1. I skipped reviewing the Microsoft study guide and used this book as my primary reference in passing the exam. Each component on this exam (web services, windows services, enterprise services) has its own architecture and interface. This book did a great job of distilling that information in a way that was easy to understand. I especially liked how the chapters were organized to introduce a concept, and then show you the code for implementing it. I simply wrote my own example for each chapter and did well on the exam. I didn't get much use out of the study guide or CD, but the practice tests in the book are very useful.



2. The book got to me in a timely manner. I'm very pleased and hope to do well on the exam.



3. This book is pretty good at explaining the needed topics. I only used this book to pass the exam and found it compact and accurate.
   
   Two bad notes are since coriolis was bought out it is tough to get errata for this book and there are a few problems. The securit section is a bit weak so read some online stuff to fill it in.
   
   Good luck ZoOnI



4. I used this book together with the corresponding Training Guide, by the same authors (this was redundant because the two books essentially repeat each other - I could have just used the Training Guide.) I think these authors are amazing - they have ability to present everything in such an easy understandable way, that I didn't just memorize the stuff for the exam but actually understood it. Now my next one is 70-229 - SQL server exam, I wish Kalani had a book for that one as well...



5. This certification study-resource from Author Amit Kalani, served as a rather indispensable part of the revision portfolio for Exam 70-320 (XML Web Services and Server Components with C# .NET ).
   
   Simply put, it is a very useful & sound comprehensive reference for Exam 70-320. It served me greatly in gaining both an overview of all the elements that would appear on the 320 exam, but also served well in my overall review and revision endeavours for the 70-320 Exam.
   
   using this resource got me to the place where i felt i had covered the core objectives for the exam and was ready to move on to the next phase ie: having a go at tackling past question scenarios.
   
   i was glad i bought it.
   
   what i liked about this book :
   - it is a comprehensive read at 344 pages -(ie: the 2 Testing chapters non factored)
   - there are exam questions after every chapter, relating to that chapter and the exam objectives the chapter tackles
   - Answers with explanations are provided with every question featured in the book.
   - there is a CD with questions set in an application that simulates the exam room scenario
   - The CD also comes with a .pdf, e-version of the book.
   
   I purchased the book in question as a pair with the companion Exam Training guide -(equally written by the same authors: Amit Kalani + Priti Kalani) from Que press ISBN: 0789728249; and i basically have'nt looked back one second since taking that decison.
   
   the two books complement each other very well and provide a very fine balance between the need to train & equip the reader with the strong hands-on .NET XML Web-services development skills he/she will require in order to thrive as a C#.NET web developper; whilst at the same time fully framing these necessary hands-on expertise , in the context & framework of the exam the reader probably seeks to take at the end of working/ploughing his/her way through the book.
   
   Amit Kalani is a very good author. he is well known in the C#.NET world. and he has a way of making a typically difficult material to teach, clearly explained, and he reinforces this with ample examples and practise, so it sinks in and becomes proper knowledge. So for those starting out on C#.NET or others looking for a place to start the preparation for the MCAD.NET with C# or 70-320 exam, these Books could easily serve as the spot to take it from.
   
   However, i would add but the small proviso that depending on where you are along the previous "C#" programming-experience scale, i'd say you'd do well to buy yourself a good companion C# programming language text to accompany you on your journey.
   
   There are lots of books on Amazon that would serve you well in this function/capacity . the text i used to give me a helping hand is called the: "C# Bible" by author: jeff ferguson (et al); it has for ISBN:0764548344.i found this easy to read and got through the first 20 chapters of concise, easy to follow, C# language basics, with relative ease.
   
   After working through the 70-320 ExamCram resource in question and using the Training guide counterpart to acquire deeper hands-on practise to cement the interface between :( knowledge of the .Net Framework1.0 XML Web-services development concepts as treated in the books), with that of proper programming competence;(ie:knowing your stuff); I was ready for the next phase ie: going on to tackle past exam questions
   
   using Transcender and the Testking more than sufficed to ensure & assure success at the exam;
   
   Take & Ace the exam with ease: 150minutes & 43 questions.
   
   Success at the exam-level is assured by appropriate preparation; ie: tackling past questions regarding .NET programming & C# XML Web-services development related problem scenarios in order to sharpen your wits about choosing the right solution in any given problem scenario. this is the crunch of it. do that ,and u pass.
   
   End of.
   
   The passing mark is 700 ie: 70%. i sat the exam on Tuesday (31st October 2006); scored 98% ie: 984.
   
   MCAD.NET requirements accomplished!
   
   Good luck.
   
   cheers :-)

2 comments about XML Data Management: Native XML and XML-Enabled Database Systems.

1. At our company, we write Java applications. Soon, we got to the point that we needed a more formal way to read/write data than merely an ad hoc approach. We use XML. The obvious approach is to use a well tested relational database, like those supplied by IBM, Oracle or Microsoft. A problem was getting detailed, objective explanations of what would be involved with each choice. Each vendor is perfectly willing to be our "friend" and supply us with reams of documentation. But still...

   The chapters in this book that describe how to hook up XML to those 3 vendors' databases were excellent and clear.

   But what we ended up doing was going with something suggested in ANOTHER chapter - building an embedded XML database. You will not see this advocated by a vendor; there is no sale for them here. Other than this book, we found it tough to get lucid explanations of the pros and cons of this route. It will take more work, but we hope it will give better performance - no interprocess communication, for one thing. Plus of course no licence fees, and easier installation and management, since we will have access/own all the source code. This was not our original intention, by any means. But the book's comparative analysis was so persuasive that we ended up taking this road. (Hopefully, it will not be a dead end.)

   That one chapter on embedded XML databases was, to us, the most precious thing in the entire book!




2. I think it is a very good book. It describes several actors in the XML data storage world. It also points out several strategies to deal with XML in relational databases.
   It is very easy to read and the language is very clear.
   Some experience in XML and how to store it is recommended in order to get the most of it.
   I really enjoyed the chapter on eXist as it really goes into details about the index and storage architecture. It is stays quite high level though.
   It helps you understand pros and cons of the different products and architectures (client/server as opposed to embedded).
   Everyone dealing with XML storage should read it.

No comments about XML and Privacy: Mutually Exclusive? Presentation.