The arrival of support for XML--the Extensible Markup Language--in browsers and authoring tools has followed a long period of intense hype. Major databases, authoring tools (including Microsoft's Office 2000), and browsers are committed to XML support. Many content creators and programmers for the Web and other media are left wondering, "What can XML and its associated standards really do for me?" Getting the most from XML requires being able to tag and transform XML documents so they can be processed by web browsers, databases, mobile phones, printers, XML processors, voice response systems, and LDAP directories, just to name a few targets. In Learning XML, the author explains XML and its capabilities succinctly and professionally, with references to real-life projects and other cogent examples. Learning XML shows the purpose of XML markup itself, the CSS and XSL styling languages, and the XLink and XPointer specifications for creating rich link structures. The basic advantages of XML over HTML are that XML lets a web designer define tags that are meaningful for the particular documents or database output to be used, and that it enforces an unambiguous structure that supports error-checking. XML supports enhanced styling and linking standards (allowing, for instance, simultaneous linking to the same document in multiple languages) and a range of new applications. For writers producing XML documents, this book demystifies files and the process of creating them with the appropriate structure and format. Designers will learn what parts of XML are most helpful to their team and will get started on creating Document Type Definitions. For programmers, the book makes syntax and structures clear It also discusses the stylesheets needed for viewing documents in the next generation of browsers, databases, and other devices.

Learning XML Review   Rating:
2002-04-04 09:38:02  Peter Brokstein [Reply | View]
I won't repeat the mostly negative reviews that are already posted here. There is way too much prose, and not enough information. This book is not targeted for O'Reilly's core audience, but the technical amateur. I feel I have wasted my money.

Learning XML Review   Rating:
2002-03-18 10:06:07  Kevin [Reply | View]
I must agree with Mr. Wolf. I never even look to buy books from publisher other than O'Reilly. I especially love Learning VBScript. This book, however, leaves a dry taste in my mouth. I originally bought this book after reading a few online tutorials from different sites. After reading the first 45 pages, I returned to the sites to complete my XML education. I'm considering buying a book from another publisher for reference. The first two chapters of this book were an advertisement for the rest of the book. By the time I reached page 40 I was still seeing, "we'll discuss this in further detail in chapter 7, 3, etc." Why? You should have me hooked by now, and unfortunatly, I was not.

I must say, I did not like the author's style of teaching, the "I'll get to this later" method is fine, but not 5 chapters later. Why tease me now then?

Learning XML Review   Rating:
2002-01-23 10:16:28  Steve Adams [Reply | View]
"Learning XML" is good as computer books go but doesn't match expectations as O'Reilly books go. Take the discussion of XML name spaces, for example. The author describes the basic idea and syntax, which is fine. He then notes that the URI associated with the name space doesn't even have to point anywhere, which is also fine in that it's true, but most definitely not fine in that it leaves you wondering "What's up with that?" and forces you to go to a web site such as www.xml.com/lpt/a/2000/03/08/namespaces/index.html to read the "myths" article by Ronald Bourret, who explains the point clearly and succinctly in about three paragraphs. I expect O'Reilly books to contain those three paragraphs, and not leave me dangling conceptually. It's a good book by an author who's obviously trying, but it lacks the O'Reilly magic.

Learning XML Review   Rating:
2001-12-04 09:15:53  Robert Patton [Reply | View]
The book was fairly easy to read (from the perspective of someone who hasn't used XML before) and is handy as a reference. I read it before writing an XML-based B2B system, and it covered everything I needed to create the DTD's for the different transactions - though I had to look elsewhere for info on reading the XML files from Java.

I'd like to see more info on schemas if there is another edition. I think the section about programming with XML is uneccesary, better left for other books that can address the subject in more detail.

Another review mentioned the lack of thorough examples, I'd like to note that I appreciate that lack. Other XML books I skimmed were bloated with examples that I couldn't care less about. Learning XML had the right mix of info and examples, imho.

Learning XML Review   Rating:
2001-10-29 07:42:37  Jani Pohjanraito [Reply | View]
Alhtough well written and even thorough (well mostly), I find the title a bit

misleading. XML and DTD's and all that jazz is well covered, but the approach

brings in mind an school text book, not hands on manual. General reading, if

you like.

Jani Pohjanraito

Learning XML Review   Rating:
2001-10-16 15:09:26  Michael Wolf [Reply | View]
I am highly disappointed.

I've been a devoted fan of O'Reilly publications ever since the nutshell books were small, and bound with 2 staples. The reason for my longstanding loyalty to them is their loyalty to me, the technical audience. Their books are well written, entertaining, factual, accurate, and easily absorbed.

This book (although probably better than most on the market) does not measure up to the high standards I normally associate with books from O'Reilly and Associates. Although I am only a beginner (the target for the book), I found numerous syntax and logic errors in the examples. But more importantly, in a book that's about transforming an input tree into an output tree, the trees are often notably lacking. All that's presented is the transformation(XSLT). That doesn't work as a training example. It's like a diet commercial that shows only the pill, but no "before" or "after" pictures. Yeah, the pill (in this analogy, XSLT) is interesting, but since it's a translator from input to output, I'm left imagining what they look like. Having them as easy references would have been extremely helpful to me as I worked through the transformation.

Furthermore (and I'll agree that this is an ill-defined issue) the text seemed too text-y and prone to discussion. What I liked about previous O'Reilly books (Perl especialy) is that the _discussion_ is wrapped around good _examples_ of the language. The *examples* are the point, and the discussion supports them. Not so in this XML book. In this book, the discussions were often not supported by examples. Again, I have to create a picture in my own mind rather than absorbing the example that should have been placed in the book. Because there were more discussions than actual examples, I felt that I had to work really hard to understand the concepts. In contrast, the examples from other books seemed to make it more cranio-available (i.e. readily absorbed) to me. I can't exactly put my finger on the source of this difficulty, but the symptom for me is that I was more tired and less confident of my skills when I put this book down than when I've put other books down. That feeling - easily absorbed material instilling confidence - is why I've loved O'Reilly books in the past. This book (while it *did* help me learn XML) did *not* leave me with that O'Reilly feeling.

I'll try other XML books from O'Reilly as reference now that I've finished the tutorial, but in the mean time, I can't recommend this book. And it brings me sorrow to have to single this book out. It's the first disappointment from O'Reilly in our long relationship.

Learning XML Review   Rating:
2001-06-26 04:15:37  Brian R. Bondy [Reply | View]
Congrats to the Author. Well organized and informative.

Learning XML Review   Rating:
2001-04-17 05:30:33  Eric Laney [Reply | View]


I'm currently in Chapter 5 (about halfway through the book). Even if I never finish the book, I've gotten my money's worth. Not only do I actually understand what XML is, but I understand why people think it's so cool.

I bought the book because I was working on a project to create, organize, and store test results and other documentation for my department. As an added bonus, the book mentioned DocBook, an open standard for writing technical documentation in SGML and XML! Now, I don't even have to develop my own schema.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs to know more about XML, but doesn't want to waste time wading through hundreds of web sites or trying to decipher other books.

Learning XML Review   Rating:
2001-04-06 09:25:35  Brian [Reply | View]
I have read the first three chapter(S). It is a(n) excellent books(omit the s) for learning XML.

This is another sucess for O'Reilly.

Geesh, I hope the book isn't writen like this review. Being an oriely, I'm sure it's a great book. I am going to have it shipped today.

Learning XML Review   Rating:
2001-04-04 05:51:45  chetan patel [Reply | View]
I have read the first three chapter. It is a excellent books for learning XML.

This is another sucess for O'Reilly.

See larger cover
Browse within this book