Applied XML: A Toolkit for Programmers
CDN$ 29.71
Comprehensive introduction to XML for techies. - I was recommended this book as an introduction to XML/XSL, being a web application developer myself. Well I was lucky to already be familiar with things such as Active Server Pages, Javascript, SQL server, and script programming in general, because otherwise this book is very hard to read. The first two sections give a very clearly written overview of where XML fits in the current Internet world (though published in 1999, this story is still true I think), but after that the book quickly becomes rather technical with lots of references to chapters that are still to come. Moreover, some of the examples contain awkward typos. Still, after reading this book I have the feeling that I am now quite capable of designing and realzing XML/XSL based web applications myself, especially after re-creating their on-line shopping demo, an excellent example that the two authors provide. Their (previous) involvement in Microsoft I did not find bothersome, on the contrary, since Internet Explorer is still the only browser that supports XML in a decent fashion, their knowledge of IE5 comes in handy. All in all recommended for the more technically oriented people involved in web app design, although the book could maybe by now use a revision and an overall quality review.
Excellent for those new to XML - I was new to XML and I searched everywhere for something that could make me comfortable with it. Thanks to this book, I am now very comfortable with this technology. Highly recommended for those new to XML.
Excellent for Someone New to XSL - intended for the programmer new to XML/XSL - has the clearest explanation of the structure behind the DOM model, and how to use it out of the 4 or 5 books I went through. Gives you enough understanding of foundation to layer in complex code, in several different approaches. I really liked the level of their example - not the trivial bits and pieces found in books like WROX, but a coherent and complete set of code. This is not a reference manual, which is probably just as well with XML/XSL being the moving target it is, but a textbook that actually enlightens. I thought the organization was well-thought out - but I got the book because I m NOT an expert in this.
of limited utility - This is divided into three parts. The first part, roughly a quarter of the book, includes a detailed, technical discussion of XML and DTDs. The second part, roughly half the book, is devoted to DOM (Document Object Model) and Microsoft s extensions to DOM. Examples largely use Microsoft s XML support. Some limited use is made of Java, but mostly the author s use JavaScript, Visual Basic, and ASPs (Active Server Pages). There is a moderately complex example, an online shopping demo, done from two different perspectives--both using ASPs under Microsoft s IIS (Internet Information Server) on the server-side, with one using Microsoft s IE and JavaScript on client-side and the other using a Java applet. There is also complete source for a Visual Basic program that presents an XML document s tree structure. Finally, the last part of the book, roughly a quarter, is devoted to XSL (XML Stylesheet Language). This includes a detailed, technical discussion of XSL.This was published in July 1999 and so is somewhat dated. I suspect that the book continues to sell because it is on the recommended reading list for IBM s XML certification test. The back cover indicates that the authors are students that interned at Microsoft. Their bias toward Microsoft is unfortunate. It isn t clear that Microsoft has any place in a discussion of XML and associated technology and tools. Contrary to the authors remarks, Microsoft s XML parser does not conform to the DOM specification. Moreover, languages and tools like Visual Basic and ASPs that are only available on one platform are of limited utility to programmers that need work on multiple platforms (NT, Unix, Mainframe), that is, programmers in the real world. The authors choices in this regard make their book of limited utility.
Poorly written, questionable organization - Although this book tries to cover a lot of useful information, the overall effort is poorly written, lacks coherent organization within each chapter, and at times rather juvenile. The youth of both authors is clearly evident and the book is better skimmed than read (often too painful to read). Oftentimes the authors put the cart before the horse when trying to teach a concept. Likewise, their examples tend to be rather weak and trivial rather than based on real-world usage patterns and scenarios. The authors lack of professional experience in creating the kinds of applications that benefit from XML detracts from their overall ability to present the capabilities of XML in a professional manner.