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Learning XML, Second Edition

By Erik T. Ray
September 2003
Pages: 416
ISBN 10: 0-596-00420-6 | ISBN 13: 9780596004200
(Average of 5 Customer Reviews)

Description

In this second edition of the bestselling title, the author explains the important and relevant XML technologies and their capabilities clearly and succinctly with plenty of real-life projects and useful examples. He outlines the elements of markup--demystifying concepts such as attributes, entities, and namespaces--and provides enough depth and examples to get started. Learning XML is a reliable source for anyone who needs to know XML, but doesn't want to waste time wading through hundreds of web sites or 800 pages of bloated text.
Full Description

This second edition of the bestselling Learning XML provides web developers with a concise but grounded understanding of XML (the Extensible Markup Language) and its potential-- not just a whirlwind tour of XML. The author explains the important and relevant XML technologies and their capabilities clearly and succinctly with plenty of real-life projects and useful examples. He outlines the elements of markup--demystifying concepts such as attributes, entities, and namespaces--and provides enough depth and examples to get started. Learning XML is a reliable source for anyone who needs to know XML, but doesn't want to waste time wading through hundreds of web sites or 800 pages of bloated text. For writers producing XML documents, this book clarifies 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. Learning XML also discusses the stylesheets needed for viewing documents in the next generation of browsers, databases, and other devices. Learning XML illustrates the core XML concepts and language syntax, in addition to important related tools such as the CSS and XSL styling languages and the XLink and XPointer specifications for creating rich link structures. It includes information about three schema languages for validation: W3C Schema, Schematron, and RELAX-NG, which are gaining widespread support from people who need to validate documents but aren't satisfied with DTDs. Also new in this edition is a chapter on XSL-FO, a powerful formatting language for XML. If you need to wade through the acronym soup of XML and start to really use this powerful tool, Learning XML, will give you the roadmap you need.

Featured customer reviews

This is a good book for anyone who want to be an XML professional, July 31 2007

Rating:

Submitted by An XML Professional [Respond | View]

I started with the first edition and bought also its 2nd edition. It is a great book to start with, whether you a beginer to XML or you are already an XML developer. If you have some programming background, this will speed up your process to take on all XML related techologies.

Very Good book for aproximate, July 30 2007

Rating:

Submitted by Francho [Respond | View]

A good aproximation to the Extensible Markup Language. Shown of simple and pleasant form, the reader gets the knownledge across the numerous examples. I would add some exercices for doing by the reader. But the content and the form of expose it is very goo

Learning XML, Second Edition, June 06 2005

Rating:

Submitted by Rugmonster [Respond | View]

O'Reilly
Learning XML, Second Edition
by Erik T. Ray
Second Edition September 2003
ISBN: 0-596-00420-6
416 pages, $39.95 US

For the longest time, I had heard about XML and all it could do, but never what it was. I had many misconceptions about what it did and how it worked. My little head thought that for all of the hype, it must be some super complex programming language, not something as simple as a formatted document looking very similar to HTML. When I finally figured out what XML was, I started looking online at the various sources that attempted to explain what XML was, but then they got into XPaths, XSLT, SAX and DOM, but with little to no explainations. I almost gave up on XML because I figured out how to form an XML document, but how the heck was I to get that information and make it useful?

Enter O'Reilly's Learning XML. In very clear, organized language (a common trait of almost all O'Reilly books) XML and all of it's basics were laid out before me. XSLT, XPath, XPointer, Schemas and more are all covered. The first three chapters are probably the most important to read straight through because they give you the basics of XML structure. Each subsequent chapter is organized so that you can reference them as needed to do what you need to do. The book assumes that you know nothing of XML and builds from there at a good pace. It wasn't so slow that I got bored, nor was it so fast that I felt lost.

Learning XML, Second Edition met my needs for successfully teaching me the fundamentals of XML in a non-language/platform specific manner. I would recommend to anyone with little or no knowledge of XML. From reading this book, I now feel confident incorporating XML into some of my future projects.

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Learning XML, 2nd Edition Review, October 26 2004
Submitted by Anonymous Reader [Respond | View]

Would this be a good book for a newbie on writing web pages. I am a little familiar with HTML on just the basics. I had an HTML class in college but that was 4 years ago. I need to start from the ground up and as well as refresh my memory. Any recomendations of other books or software editors that can help me build.

Learning XML, 2nd Edition Review, January 12 2004

Rating:

Submitted by Ben Blank [Respond | View]

An excellent guide for gaining an understanding of the fundamental concepts that comprise XML. I have been implementing XML for several years (SVG, XHTML, even creating custom schemas), but did not realize how incomplete my knowledge of related concepts (particularly DTDs, XSL, and XSL-FO) truly was until I found this book. The detailed information on creating new document types via DTDs, XML schemas, RELAX NG, and Schematron (and the differences between them) is vital for those seeking to expand the horizons of their document systems, while the guides to using XPath and XPointer apply to anyone referring to one document from another. Learning XML is a must-read for novices and veteran implementors alike.

Learning XML, 2nd Edition Review, October 26 2003

Rating:

Submitted by Phil Molyneux [Respond | View]

Nice book but where have the online examples/code gone?

Media reviews
"This text provides an excellent coverage of XML's foundations and the technologies that have been developed for particular needs. It is the definitive introduction to XML."
-- Major Keary, PC Update

"[Author Erik T. Ray] is one of those folk who can retain an in-depth technological approach without alienating those less well-informed than himself. As a result, this is no skimpy overview of XML, but rather a complete introduction to Extensible Markup Language that quickly provides the web developer with a grounding in both how to use it, and what to use it for."
--Davey Winder, PC Plus, March 2004

"This new edition is one that I would recommend to newcomers to XML...The O'Reilly team and [Erik] Ray have provided a great book, at a good price, that you will find very useful as you learn XML."
--Russell Dyer, UnixReview.com, December 2003

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