XML 1.1 Bible by Elliotte Rusty Harold

Product Description

Updated and better than ever, this more focused revision provides comprehensive coverage of XML to anyone with a basic understanding of HTML and Web servers
Featuring all-new examples, this book contains everything readers need to know to incorporate XML in their Web site plans, designs, and implementations
Continues expert Elliotte Rusty Harold's well-known track record for delivering the best XML guidance available
Includes coverage of the most recent XML 1.1 specification and the latest trends in XML Web publishing
Companion Web site includes additional examples and reference material found in previous editions that readers may find useful
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #365473 in Books
Published on: 2004-03-05
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
1054 pages
Editorial Reviews

Download Description
* Updated and better than ever, this more focused revision provides comprehensive coverage of XML to anyone with a basic understanding of HTML and Web servers * Featuring all-new examples, this book contains everything readers need to know to incorporate XML in their Web site plans, designs, and implementations * Continues expert Elliotte Rusty Harold's well-known track record for delivering the best XML guidance available * Includes coverage of the most recent XML 1.1 specification and the latest trends in XML Web publishing * Companion Web site includes additional examples and reference material found in previous editions that readers may find useful

Amazon.com
The emergence of XML is having an enormous impact on Web development, and scaling the learning curve of this new technology is a priority for many developers. The XML Bible offers a superb introduction to the subject and the groundwork to understand XML's future developments.

Author Elliotte Rusty Harold uses a patient, step-by-step discussion that clearly points out the potential of XML without boring his readership with tons of SGML spec-speak. Harold opens quickly with a "Hello World" example to get the reader coding early, and follows that with a simple but powerful example of XML's data management benefits--presenting baseball statistics. Once you've coded your first XML documents, you'll be hooked on the technology and motivated to learn about the more sophisticated topics.

Style sheet languages are covered comprehensively to illustrate the presentation possibilities and pitfalls. An unusually long list of real-life XML applications also shows how XML is already being used, and there is in-depth coverage of the Resource Description Framework, Channel Definition Format, and Vector Markup Language. The book wraps up with a section that helps you design your own XML application from scratch.

Titling a book a bible is a bold move, but this engaging and informative guide is entitled to make this claim. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered: XML background, example XML applications, type definitions (DTDs), style languages, Xlinks, Xpointers, Namespaces, application planning, and XML 1.0 specification.

Download Description
* Updated and better than ever, this more focused revision provides comprehensive coverage of XML to anyone with a basic understanding of HTML and Web servers * Featuring all-new examples, this book contains everything readers need to know to incorporate XML in their Web site plans, designs, and implementations * Continues expert Elliotte Rusty Harold's well-known track record for delivering the best XML guidance available * Includes coverage of the most recent XML 1.1 specification and the latest trends in XML Web publishing * Companion Web site includes additional examples and reference material found in previous editions that readers may find useful
Customer Reviews

Verbose
I bought Harold's book to help me move from XHTML to XML and to handle data with PHP which does not fit well in a relational database / SQL. This book bogs down quickly in very long explanations & examples which could have been a fraction of the size. I think it has good coverage, but Harold uses too many words every time he approaches a subject. To paraphrase someone else, Harold could write 10,000 words on the color red.

The problem with Wiley's Bible series (I have several of them) is that the goal seems to be to make them as big and heavy as a boat anchor. This results in verbose books, which may be ok for use as a reference but way to hard to read cover to cover for initial learning. The time needed to read these books cover to cover exceeds the value of the book itself. If you buy books by the pound (or kilo), this is a good buy. But if you value your time more than you value impressive size, there are better alternatives.

On a positive note: I have not found a bunch of typo or editing errors and Harold seems to know the subject. I'm just frustrated by the slow pace, although I will continue trying to read it at least a little longer.

Warning: [Some opinions given here appear to be by paid reviewers. ie: Feb 3, 2005, and others. How many others are also raw attempts to sell books without honor? Can you trust anyone who writes hundreds or thousands of 5 star opinions?? Heck no! Hint: Check out the person writing the review before actually reading it. Look for how many opinions he/she writes and how many stars. Distrust all high opinions in the first few months after publication, all high opinions by people who have only written a couple of opinions, and all high opinions from people who only write high opinions. Thanks for the lack of honesty Elliotte &/or Wiley &/or big A. (my opinion, 2 cma).]

Doesn't cover DOM and SAX
I haven' read the book, only browsed its TOC. It doesn't cover the Document Object Model (DOM) and the Simple API for XML (SAX). It also discusses CSS in too much detail. These days, web development professionals will probably have a knowledge of both HTML and CSS before starting with XML.

Consider "Beginning XML" or "Professional XML" instead, both published by Wrow.

Pulp paper
I have purchased many books from Amazon, but this one is printed on the lowest-quality paper I've ever experienced. Though it's relatively new, the yellowed pages look like a 1960's pulp novel. There is literally a 2mm yellow border surrounding each page. Come on "Hungry Minds" publishers, you can do better than this.