Absolute Beginner's Guide to Creating Web Pages (2nd Edition) (Absolute Beginner's Guide) by Todd Stauffer

Product Description

Absolute Beginner's Guide to Creating Web Pages assumes that readers are true beginners - no prior Web page experience is necessary!

This hands-on tutorial teaches readers the fundamentals of creating Web pages, along with more advanced ideas like message areas, chat, and e-commerce options to make the page look like it was created by a professional. The book begins by explaining the need for HTML and the basics of good Web page design. It then covers using HTML tags and tools, formatting text, adding images, and building links. Later chapters demonstrate how to add features to Web pages including tables, colors, frames, multimedia content, JavaScript, Style Sheets and Dynamic HTML. The author has also included several hundred pages of useful additional information, perfect for the beginning Web designer.

Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #294381 in Books
* Published on: 2002-11-09
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Paperback
* 384 pages

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Absolute Beginner's Guide to Creating Web Pages assumes that readers are true beginners - no prior Web page experience is necessary!

This hands-on tutorial teaches readers the fundamentals of creating Web pages, along with more advanced ideas like message areas, chat, and e-commerce options to make the page look like it was created by a professional. The book begins by explaining the need for HTML and the basics of good Web page design. It then covers using HTML tags and tools, formatting text, adding images, and building links. Later chapters demonstrate how to add features to Web pages including tables, colors, frames, multimedia content, JavaScript, Style Sheets and Dynamic HTML. The author has also included several hundred pages of useful additional information, perfect for the beginning Web designer.

About the Author

Todd Stauffer is the author or co-author of more than 25 computing books, including HTML Web Publishing 6-in-1, HTML by Example with Ann Navarro, and Creating Your Own AOL Web Page with Andy Shafran. Stauffer has written for a number of magazines, including Publish magazine, Silicon Alley Reporter, Working Woman, and MacAddict.

Todd has worked as an advertising writer, technical writer, and magazine editor, all in consumer-oriented computing. Outside of computing, he's also a humor columnist and a travel/automotive writer. You can reach him via his Web site, at http://www.mac-upgrade.com.

Customer Reviews

this is a really good book5
After skimming a sad stack of "learn how to create web pages" books I found this. It isn't so basic as to be close to useless, nor an impenetrable tome of code. It is an excellent introduction which provides the big picture--it is easier to learn how to do something when you understand how it works--and step by step details for those new to xhtml. Don't be fooled by the cheesy design of the cover. This is a well-written book for intelligent beginners and the best choice in this category.

Not For Absolute Beginners is a better title3
I am a true beginner, wondering how the heck to get a simple website started. I read the first 5 chapters, and I still don't know. Some very basic information seems to be missing, such as "How do I get the info from my computer to my web page? Can I preview what I'm doing? etc."

Best book for learning html code5
I read this book three times then coded my first site. I knew nothing about html prior to reading the book.

It was fantastic to read a book that not only explained in fairly plain English what each tag is and how it works, it showed easy examples and lessons to follow.

Highly recommend this book to those who want to create their own website!

An Introduction to Numerical Analysis for Electrical and Computer Engineers by Christopher J. Zarowski

Product Description

* This book is an introduction to numerical analysis and intends to strike a balance between analytical rigor and the treatment of particular methods for engineering problems
* Emphasizes the earlier stages of numerical analysis for engineers with real-life problem-solving solutions applied to computing and engineering
* Includes MATLAB oriented examples

An Instructor's Manual presenting detailed solutions to all the problems in the book is available from the Wiley editorial department.
Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #1800515 in Books
* Published on: 2004-04-13
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Hardcover
* 608 pages

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Zarkowski (Univ. of Alberta) offers this book as a general, advanced undergraduate work in numerical analysis, containing all of the usual topics." (CHOICE, October 2004)

Download Description
* This book is an introduction to numerical analysis and intends to strike a balance between analytical rigor and the treatment of particular methods for engineering problems
* Emphasizes the earlier stages of numerical analysis for engineers with real-life problem-solving solutions applied to computing and engineering
* Includes MATLAB oriented examples

From the Back Cover
An engineer's guide to numerical analysis

To properly function in today's work environment, engineers require a working familiarity with numerical analysis. This book provides that necessary background, striking a balance between analytical rigor and an applied approach focusing on methods particular to the solving of engineering problems.

An Introduction to Numerical Analysis for Electrical and Computer Engineers gives electrical and computer engineering students their first exposure to numerical analysis and serves as a refresher for professionals as well. Emphasizing the earlier stages of numerical analysis for engineers with real-life solutions for computing and engineering applications, the book:

* Forms a logical bridge between first courses in matrix/linear algebra and the more sophisticated methods of signal processing and control system courses
* Includes MATLAB-oriented examples, with a quick introduction to MATLAB for those who need it
* Provides detailed proofs and derivations for many key results

Specifically tailored to the needs of computer and electrical engineers, this is the resource engineers have long needed in order to master an area of mathematics critical to their profession.

CMOS Memory Circuits by Tegze P. Haraszti

Product Description

CMOS Memory Circuits is a systematic and comprehensive reference work designed to aid in the understanding of CMOS memory circuits, architectures, and design techniques.
CMOS technology is the dominant fabrication method and almost the exclusive choice for semiconductor memory designers.
Both the quantity and the variety of complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) memories are staggering. CMOS memories are traded as mass-products worldwide and are diversified to satisfy nearly all practical requirements in operational speed, power, size, and environmental tolerance. Without the outstanding speed, power, and packing density characteristics of CMOS memories, neither personal computing, nor space exploration, nor superior defense systems, nor many other feats of human ingenuity could be accomplished. Electronic systems need continuous improvements in speed performance, power consumption, packing density, size, weight, and costs. These needs continue to spur the rapid advancement of CMOS memory processing and circuit technologies.
CMOS Memory Circuits is essential for those who intend to (1) understand, (2) apply, (3) design and (4) develop CMOS memories.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #404304 in Books
Published on: 2000-09-30
Number of items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
576 pages
Editorial Reviews

Book Info
A systematic, comprehensive reference for those who intended to understand, apply, design, and develop CMOS memories. Includes information on all of the successfully used memories and those anticipated as becoming successful. DLC: Semiconductor storage devices--Design and construction.
Customer Reviews

useful topics but poor explanations
This book covers many important concepts in memory circuit design. However it is poorly written and edited which makes it difficult to read. Hence this book is only for the patient reader!

An errata should come with it or be online
This book is the first book dealing with cmos memories comprehensively as we can see from its preface.That's it.
But,in my opinion,it is also the only book i v read that has the highest error ratings.

Rails Cookbook (Cookbooks (O'Reilly)) by Rob Orsini

Product Description

Rails Cookbook is packed with the solutions you need to be a proficient developer with Rails, the leading framework for building the new generation of Web 2.0 applications. Recipes range from the basics, like installing Rails and setting up your development environment, to the latest techniques, such as developing RESTful web services.

With applications that are code light, feature-full and built to scale quickly, Rails has revolutionized web development. The Rails Cookbook addresses scores of real-world challenges; each one includes a tested solution, plus a discussion of how and why it works, so that you can adapt the techniques to similar situations. Topics include:
Modeling data with the ActiveRecord library
Setting up views with ActionView and RHTML templates
Building your application's logic into ActionController
Testing and debugging your Rails application
Building responsive web applications using JavaScript and Ajax
Ensuring that your application is security and performs well
Deploying your application with Mongrel and Apache
Using Capistrano to automate deployment
Using the many Rails plugins
Working with graphics


Whether you're new to Rails or an experienced developer, you'll discover ways to test, debug and secure your applications, incorporate Ajax, use caching to improve performance, and put your application into production. Want to get ahead of the Web 2.0 curve? This valuable cookbook will save you hundreds of hours when developing applications with Rails.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #48959 in Books
Published on: 2007-01-16
Format: Illustrated
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
534 pages
Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Rob Orsini is an open source developer living in northern California. He currently works for O'Reilly Media in the production software group. Previously, Rob was the webmaster at Industrial Light & Magic, where he developed applications in support of the special effects industry. Rob has been programming the web since 1998, and upon discovering Rails, hopes to continue for many more years to come. Rob is also a jazz musician and a loving father.
Customer Reviews

Nice work
I used this book for a grad class project that had to do with building multimedia database system with Ruby on Rails framework. This is the first of the "cookbook" series I ever purchased, so I was a bit skeptical in the beginning. I am very pleased with this book. It has detailed solutions for several of the common problems. I had successfully built a nice multimedia database driven application in a single weekend with this book. Code examples are well presented and it's easy to incorporate it into your application. This is not a beginner's book. If you know nothing about Ruby or Rails, you should get a beginner's book first - I used "Build Your Own Ruby On Rails" by Patrick Lenz [note that this book is available for free download on the web - search for it on Google]. I am very highly pleased with this purchase and I will recommend it highly especially to those who want to get up and running quickly.

Practical book for working programmers.
The "Rails Cookbook" is a very useful book for the working programmer.

Programming is all about solving problems, and that is exactly what this book is about. Each "Recipe" contains the problem, the solution and a discussion about the solution. They are concise without being too vague to be useful.

The book contains almost 200 of these problems / solutions.

This probably wouldn't be a good introduction to the language or the framework, but if you already are familiar with both - this book is a very valuable tool to help you get your work done.

Love the recipie format
Now that I've encountered a few recipies books, I have to admit I'm in love with the format. I proves very practical and much easier to use.

Fixing Windows XP Annoyances by David A. Karp

Product Description

Windows XP is the most popular operating system on the planet--and the most annoying. From incomprehensible error messages to inexplicable crashes, from wonky wireless setups to just finding a file, Windows can make your computing life a nightmare. But thanks to Fixing Windows XP Annoyances, you can banish the bugs, speed up operations, and just make Windows work right.

Inspired by author David Karp's Windows XP Annoyances for Geeks, this all-new tome pulls together tips, tricks, insider workarounds, and fixes for PC novices and pros, in a handy, accessible Q&A format that lets you find the solutions in a flash. Fixing Windows XP Annoyances will not only increase your productivity but lower your blood pressure. Karp's new book covers:

* Setup and Hardware-Update Windows, reinstall Windows safely, speed up start up, resolve driver-hardware conflicts, and more.
* Windows Interface-Navigate quickly, fix screen resolution problems, customize the desktop, and switch applications more quickly.
* Windows Explorer-Force XP's file & folder management application to remember your view settings, save your default application choices, and get XP's Search tool to behave.
* Multimedia-Having a problem playing a video or burning a CD? Want to do more with your digital photo collection? We have the answers.
* Web and Email-Get a handle on spyware, spam and pop-ups; protect your privacy online; learn how to improve your online experience.
* Wireless and Home Networking-Connect all your PCs; share Internet connections; share files and drives securely; make your wireless network purr; share network printers; and more.

If you're having a problem, just look through the Table of Contents for the annoyance that most closely matches your problem, or feel free to start thumbing through the pages. You'll likely find a fix to a problem you didn't even know could be solved.

Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #238211 in Books
* Published on: 2006-03-15
* Format: Illustrated
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Paperback
* 219 pages

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Microsoft Windows XP may be the latest in a popular family of operating systems, but that doesn't mean it's perfect. However, the designers of Windows XP have built enough flexibility into their product and provided users with a sufficiently large toolkit to overcome most shortcomings. In Windows XP Annoyances David Karp reveals his ideas about how to use Windows XP most effectively, for maximum fun and productivity and as little aggravation as possible. If you're comfortable working with Windows XP (or any of its recent predecessors) but find certain aspects of it, well, annoying, you'll find this book to your liking. Karp guides his readers through potentially risky procedures, such as editing the Registry and adjusting hardware device drivers, with skill and precision.

The author's tone is to the point and professional without being dry, without any of the phony, forced humor that appears in a lot of operating-system books. Though he inexplicably ignores the Windows XP Power Toys--some very handy utilities you can get from Microsoft's Web site--he does a great job of handling important questions. Case in point, the important issue of which files can be deleted to free up disk space, and which you shouldn't touch even though they look like pointless garbage. Similarly useful attention goes to the question of which background processes can be safely halted, and which are important. There's fine coverage of scripting with the Windows Script Host (WSH), as well. --David Wall

Topics covered: How to get the most out of Windows XP, even when it appears that the operating system is working against you. Troubleshooting techniques, hardware advice, Registry hacking, interface customization, and advanced networking subjects all find a place in this book.

About the Author
Windows expert David Karp is the author of O'Reilly's bestselling "Windows Annoyances" series of books, including his latest, "Windows XP Annoyances for Geeks". He also co-authored "Windows XP in a Nutshell". A clear and engaging writer, he is a consistent voice for empowering Windows users to get more out of their operating system, and his annoyances.com web site has garnered a sizeable following. David has also written "eBay Hacks" and "eBay: The Missing Manual".
Customer Reviews

Not the clearest sometimes, but...4
While some of the content wasn't easy to implement, I got quite a bit of use out of it. I tend to go back to it from time to time, even.

Why does XP need so much fixing?4
There are many things about Windows "professional" that isn't. It has puppy dogs and talking paper clips. All files gravitate towards "My Documents" and "My Pictures" and often the only way to get to "My Engineering Files" is to click first the desktop icon, then "My Computer" icon, then the drive letter... I want the operating system to get out of my way and let me work. And yet Windows is notorious for putting all sorts of settings in obscure locations that are the last place you might look for them. Hence there are so many utilities for configuring your system the way you want it. Unfortunately, these utilities just do it without telling you how it is done.
This book directly addresses most of these annoying features and explains how (and why) to fix them. In so doing it provides a great deal of insight into the MS mentality. There are of course other annoyances not covered in the book, but I now have a much better idea where to look for them.

Fixing Windows XP Annoyances1
Purchasing this book was a mistake. I expected something similar to
"Windows 98 Annoyances" by the same author. There was no chapter on the Registry, and little or no information about the Registry.

Juniper and Cisco Routing: Policy and Protocols for Multivendor Networks by Walter J. Goralski

Product Description

Discusses how network traffic flow is complicated by the fact that each routing vendor has its own propietary implementation or extension to the routing protocols.
Covers both Juniper and Cisco routing, and touches on other vendor implementations.
Focuses on routing policy, covering Border Gateway Protocol in depth.
Includes real-world multivendor configuration examples.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #636113 in Books
Published on: 2002-09-13
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
640 pages
Editorial Reviews

Book Info
Goralski sheds some much-needed light on this intricate protocol-policy relationship by offering two important benefits where other routing books fall short. He covers both Juniper and Cisco, and touches on other vendor implementations.

From the Back Cover
Obtain a clear understanding of how routing information and traffic flows on a multivendor network

Routing policies for networks are often complex and not well understood. Many books detail the operation of routing protocols such as OSPF or BGP, but none place the protocols in the context of routing policies and the real world of ISP peering and customer relationships. Once realistic expectations of packet routing behavior are added to the basic routing protocols, routing policies are unavoidable. Fortunately, Walter Goralski sheds some much-needed light on this intricate protocol-policy relationship by offering two important benefits where other routing books fall short.

Goralski covers both Juniper and Cisco, and touches on other vendor implementations. Next, he focuses on real routing policy situations-the way routing domains actually work-instead of just detailing the protocol anatomy. Real-world multivendor configuration examples make this a hands-on guide for the network engineer or administrator who needs to optimize network traffic flows.

Topics covered include:
* Addressing and routing
* Subnets and supernets
* ISP peering and routing policies
* Cisco and Juniper Networks router configuration
* Routing Information Protocol (RIP)
* Configuring RIP, OSPF, IS-IS, and BGP
* Routing policies for all networking situations

About the Author
WALTER J. GORALSKI is an instructor and course developer at Juniper Networks, the number-two vendor of network routing products. Goralski has more than 35 years of experience in data communications, including 14 years at AT&T. He has written seven books on networking topics, the most recent one on optical networking.
Customer Reviews

great book about routing policy
You cannot find other books have so much infomation about real network description on routing policy. Like IS-IS L2-L1 route leaking, you cannot find so detailed information on other books.

Putting It All Together
Everyone knows Juniper is a routing player. Heck, their best guys came from Cisco. This is the first book I've seen that really nails the tech issues of routing when you have both Juniper and Cisco on your network. I highly recommend it.

Routing TCP/IP, Volume II (CCIE Professional Development) (CCIE Professional Development) by Jeff Doyle

Product Description


A detailed examination of exterior routing protocols and advanced IP routing issues


Routing TCP/IP, Volume II, enables you to:
Master the operational components, configuration, and troubleshooting of BGP-4-the de facto interdomain routing protocol
Understand the operation, configuration, and troubleshooting of NAT
Learn how to deploy, configure, and troubleshoot IP multicast routing through an array of case studies and exercises
Familiarize yourself with the design goals and current state of IPv6, the new generation of the IP protocol
Implement router management through a diverse range of expert-tested methods
Test and validate your knowledge with practical, comprehensive review questions, configuration exercises, and troubleshooting exercises
Further your CCIE preparation while mastering advanced TCP/IP concepts

The complexities of exterior gateway protocols, including TCP connections, message states, path attributes, interior routing protocol interoperation, and setting up neighbor connections, require a comprehensive understanding of router operations in order to manage network growth. Routing TCP/IP, Volume II, provides you with the expertise necessary to understand and implement Border Gateway Protocol Version 4 (BGP-4), multicast routing, Network Address Translation (NAT), IPv6, and effective router management techniques. Jeff Doyle's practical approach, easy-to-read format, and comprehensive topic coverage make this book an instant classic and a must-have addition to any network professional's library.

Routing TCP/IP, Volume II, expands upon the central theme of Volume I: scalability and management of network growth. Volume II moves beyond the interior gateway protocols covered in Volume I to examine both inter-autonomous system routing and more exotic routing issues such as multicasting and IPv6. This second volume follows the same informational structure used effectively in Volume I: discussing the topic fundamentals, following up with a series of configuration examples designed to show the concept in a real-world environment, and relying on tested troubleshooting measures to resolve any problems that might arise. This book helps you accomplish more than earning the highly valued CCIE number after your name; it also helps you develop the knowledge and skills that are essential to perform your job at an expert level. Whether you are pursuing CCIE certification, need to review for your CCIE recertification exam, or are just looking for expert-level advice on advanced routing issues, Routing TCP/IP, Volume II, helps you understand foundation concepts and apply best practice techniques for effective network growth and management.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #37920 in Books
Published on: 2001-04-21
Number of items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
976 pages
Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Nothing's more central to the Internet than the TCP/IP protocol stack, so internetworking engineers need to know--or have access to--as much information about it as possible. That's the function of Routing TCP/IP, Volume II, an encyclopedic reference that covers pretty much every aspect of TCP/IP internetworking in deep, practical detail. This is one of the books that working experts should always have at hand, and one of the best choices for people studying for the higher-level Cisco certification examinations, especially the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) laboratory protocols. Jeff Doyle and Jennifer Carroll, both CCIEs, share their background knowledge and practical wisdom in nearly 1,000 information-dense, hardbound pages.

This book works well on a lot of levels, but its careful integration of explanations (statements of applicability and references to standards documents), case studies (usually illustrated with network diagrams), configuration details (input/output listings from Cisco routers), and practical advice (a note on why network address translation isn't much of a barrier against attackers) is key to its success. The illustrators worked overtime, as well, to link Internetwork Operating System (IOS) listings with network diagrams and thereby more effectively illustrate routing behaviors. An excellent index and troubleshooting exercises similar to those on the CCIE practical exam round out this package. --David Wall

Topics covered: How TCP/IP routing works, and how to configure the routing effects you want on Cisco routing equipment. Emphasis falls on Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP), Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4), IP multicasting, IPv6, and network address translation (NAT).

Book Info
Offers a detailed examination of exterior routing protocols and routing issues involved with routing TCP/IP on Cisco systems. Includes features that help readers test and validate their knowledge, such as review questions, troubleshooting exercises, and configuration exercises. Expands on the theme of the previous volume: scalability and management of network growth.

From the Back Cover

A detailed examination of exterior routing protocols and advanced IP routing issues

Routing TCP/IP, Volume II, enables you to:


* Master the operational components, configuration, and troubleshooting of BGP-4-the de facto interdomain routing protocol
* Understand the operation, configuration, and troubleshooting of NAT
* Learn how to deploy, configure, and troubleshoot IP multicast routing through an array of case studies and exercises
* Familiarize yourself with the design goals and current state of IPv6, the new generation of the IP protocol
* Implement router management through a diverse range of expert-tested methods
* Test and validate your knowledge with practical, comprehensive review questions, configuration exercises, and troubleshooting exercises
* Further your CCIE preparation while mastering advanced TCP/IP concepts

The complexities of exterior gateway protocols, including TCP connections, message states, path attributes, interior routing protocol interoperation, and setting up neighbor connections, require a comprehensive understanding of router operations in order to manage network growth. Routing TCP/IP, Volume II, provides you with the expertise necessary to understand and implement Border Gateway Protocol Version 4 (BGP-4), multicast routing, Network Address Translation (NAT), IPv6, and effective router management techniques. Jeff Doyle's practical approach, easy-to-read format, and comprehensive topic coverage make this book an instant classic and a must-have addition to any network professional's library.

Routing TCP/IP, Volume II, expands upon the central theme of Volume I: scalability and management of network growth. Volume II moves beyond the interior gateway protocols covered in Volume I to examine both inter-autonomous system routing and more exotic routing issues such as multicasting and IPv6. This second volume follows the same informational structure used effectively in Volume I: discussing the topic fundamentals, following up with a series of configuration examples designed to show the concept in a real-world environment, and relying on tested troubleshooting measures to resolve any problems that might arise. This book helps you accomplish more than earning the highly valued CCIE number after your name; it also helps you develop the knowledge and skills that are essential to perform your job at an expert level. Whether you are pursuing CCIE certification, need to review for your CCIE recertification exam, or are just looking for expert-level advice on advanced routing issues, Routing TCP/IP, Volume II, helps you understand foundation concepts and apply best practice techniques for effective network growth and management.
Customer Reviews

Although now a bit dated, still essential for the aspiring CCIE
"Routing TCP/IP, Volume II" by Jeff Doyle and Jennifer DeHaven Carroll picks up where "Routing TCP/IP, Volume I" left off. And, like the first volume, this volume is an essential "must read" for any aspiring CCIE-candidate.

The book is divided into two sections, Exterior Gateway Protocols and Advanced IP Routing Issues. The first section provides an historical review of Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP), an introduction for Border Gateway Protocol version 4 (BGP), and finally details on configuring and troubleshooting BGP. As with the first volume, numerous configuration and troubleshooting examples and exercises are included. However, one flaw is that the student will need twelve routers to actually stage the configuration example / lab at the end of this section.

The second part, Advanced IP Routing Issues, covers a variety of topics, although Multicast received the bulk of the attention. The Multicast chapters are concise, well written, and easy to digest and understand. Other topics include Network Address Translation (NAT), IPv6, and Router Management. However, since the initial publication date (2001), Cisco support for IPv6 has matured, making the chapter here a bit outdated. In fact, the Second Edition of Volume I does a much better job of incorporating IPv6 throughout. Also, I felt the chapter on Router Management was a bit light and was left with the impression that is tossed in at the last moment as a sort of "filler".

The reader should definitely make sure that he or she is comfortable with the topics presented in "Routing TCP/IP, Volume I" before delving into this book. Concepts covered in the first volume, such as Interior Gateway Protocols (RIP, OSPF, EIGRP) and the fundamentals of route redistribution, are referenced throughout this volume. If you do not completely understand the topics covered in Volume I, you will likely have a difficult time grasping the topics and concepts covered here in Volume II.

All in all, a very good book for a student working towards a CCIE. You will likely need to augment the BGP coverage with Halabi's "Internet Routing Architecture". When I first bought the book a few years back, I would have given it 5 stars. However, given some of the outdated topics I mentioned earlier, I've knocked it down to 4. A Second Edition refresh, similar to what was done for "Routing TCP/IP, Volume I", would likely bump it back to 5 stars. Good luck!

Mark G. Reyero, CCIE 12932

Best-of-class book for external routing!
CiscoPress's "Routing TCP/IP - Volume II" by Doyle and Carroll is one of the `must-have' books on any CCIE's R&S bookshelf OR any network admin who needs to understand the intricacies of external routing. I have referenced this book many times for my preparations for the R&S lab and real-world implementations.

The book's first 320 pages are dedicated to BGP. I believe this book does the best job at preparing a R&S lab candidate for BGP (better than Halabi's book). For instance, the book does an excellent job at describing the issues and nuances of IBGP and IGP synch starting on page 118. The BGP configs are complete and complex - you will be diving into some of the more arcane commands quickly (for instance - aggregate-address, as-set, backdoor).

The NAT section is probably the weakest of the subjects covered in this book, and can be found in other CiscoPress books. Still, the information presented here will be enough for the R&S lab. The next 3 chapters are devoted to IP multicast. Again, as with the BGP section, I do not believe you will find better material for the R&S lab in any other CiscoPress book (even considering Williamson's multicast book). I am admittedly weak in multicast, and Auto-RP did not `click' for me till I read this book.

If I picked up this book, and dangled it, I would probably have about 20 pages of notes fall out of the book. The book crams in a lot of information (even considering that it fills more than 900+ pages). I consider this book one of the `holy trinity' of R&S books (along with Doyle's Routing TCP/IP - Volume 1 and Clark's LAN Switching book).

I give this book 5 pings out of 5:
!!!!!

Ahmad Arslan Munir
Routing TCP/IP, Volume II presents a detailed examination of exterior routing protocols (EGP and BGP) and advanced IP routing issues such as multicast routing, quality of service routing, IPv6, and router management. You will learn IP design and management techniques for implementing routing protocols efficiently. Network planning, design, implementation, operation, and optimization are stressed in each chapter. Cisco-specific configurations for each routing protocol are examined in detail. Plentiful review questions and configuration and troubleshooting exercises make this an excellent self-study tool for CCIE exam preparation.

The Psychology of Computer Programming: Silver Anniversary Edition by Gerald M. Weinberg

Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #500764 in Books
* Published on: 1998-09
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Paperback
* 292 pages

Customer Reviews

You write the program and the program writes you5
I don't think you can actually "review" a book like this one. It's like reviewing Dostoevsky.

Sufficient is to say that this book is still highly relevant after 35 years, which is beyond any possible comparison. In fact, it doesn't bug you the least that the author speaks about new languages COBOL and PL/1 or programs being fed into a computer through a stack of punch cards. Because it doesn't matter, it's irrelevant to the matter discussed.

Which leads us to what the book is about. The book is really about the relationship between a human programmer and the programs he writes. The psychological aspects of programming, if it doesn't sound too obvious. And that did not change over the years. It is as helpful to a programmer today as I guess it has been at the time it was written. For a programmer to read this book is to increase self-awareness and understanding of the profession.

Neither very psychological nor very technical (on purpose, to encourage more people to read it), the ideas in this book come mostly from observation and there are plenty. See, the primary purpose of this book was to stimulate related research. It has apparently been achieved - as of now, it is referenced from all over the place as the major source.

A must read.

Unbelievably Bad!1
I think Wienberg must be spamming these reviews with a multitude of user names. That is the only explanation that can explain the four star average rating for this steaming pile of refuse. This is a book from an era when there must have been very low standards for 'popular' technical books. Weinberg is no psychologist, his observations are amateurish and ill informed. This book reads more like a 'best practices' work for the mainframe era. The most telling thing I can relate is my experience; after finishing a chapter I would read the chapter summary and not recognize a single thing from the chapter I had just read. The most laughable part was the coverage of programming languages. Wienberg is so completely ignorant of programming language research, even for that era, it's stunning. AND the man had (has) the gall to write on the subject as if he knows something. The most distasteful part of the book are the Anniversary Edition comments. They basically consist of Weinberg telling us that, he may not have been completely correct, but wasn't he amazingly prescient for the times? Gag. I'll never read another book by this author.

One of the key books on the people side of software4
If you're a developer (referred here as a "programmer") and something's not going just right in your work or group, try reading this book to see if the situations are somehow familiar. The stories about non-technical factors that affect code quality and developer's quality of life are the originals from 25 years ago, with a few-page update at the end of each chapter. While there aren't punch cards and batch jobs anymore, the situations still occur. Try to find your parallels in modern-day software development, where the tools may be new but the people are very much the same. (Do your best to ignore the chauvinistic comments here and there left over from a male programmer of 1971, for which the author now apologizes.) Interesting thoughts at the end about how language and compiler design also affects ease of writing good code.

Web Site Cookbook: Solutions & Examples for Building and Administering Your Web Site (Cookbooks (O'Reilly)) by Doug Addison

Product Description


The total number of web pages today has been estimated at over 3 billion, spanning millions of individual websites. Not surprisingly, there is tremendous pressure on web developers and designers to remain current with the latest technologies.

The Web Site Cookbook from O'Reilly covers all the essential skills that you need to create engaging, visitor-friendly websites. It helps you with the practical issues surrounding their inception, design, and maintenance. With recipes that teach both routine and advanced setup tasks, the book includes clear and professional instruction on a host of topics, including:
registering domains
ensuring that hostnames work
managing the directory
maintaining and troubleshooting a website
site promotion
visitor tracking
implementing e-commerce systems
linking with sales sites

This handy guide also tackles the various elements of page design. It explains how to control a reader's eye flow, how to choose a template system, how to set up a color scheme, and more.

Typical of O'Reilly's "Cookbook" series, the Web Site Cookbook is written in a straightforward format, featuring recipes that contain problem statements and solutions. A detailed explanation then follows each recipe to show you how and why the solution works. This question-solution-discussion format is a proven teaching method, as any fan of the "Cookbook" series can attest to.

Regardless of your strong suit or your role in the creation and life of a website, you can benefit from the teachings found in the Web Site Cookbook. It's a must-have tool for advancing your skills and making better sites.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #218008 in Books
Published on: 2006-02-10
Format: Illustrated
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
280 pages
Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Doug Addison has more than 10 years of web development and content management experience and has worked professionally with numerous web technologies, including HTML, JavaScript/DHTML, CSS, Apache, PHP, MySQL, and Dreamweaver. Doug worked on the Hoover's Online site and the StarDate and Weatherwise magazine web sites before starting his own web consultancy. He lives in Austin, Texas.
Customer Reviews

Web Site Cookbook
Web Site Cookbook is a really good problem solving guide for beginner to intermediate web designers. This reference includes hundreds of common questions, how tos, and ways to increase efficiency in a standard problem, solution, discussion, and see also format. Each of these entries also uses snippets of text and often includes illustrations of the result whenever possible. Topics include everything from registering and site planning through formatting text and graphics to making forms and dealing with ecommerce issues.

Web Site Cookbook is set up from simple to more complex concepts so that the reader need not have any previous experience creating a website in order to comprehend and make use of these instructions. Furthermore, the quick and easy access of the problem-solution format of the entries will be particularly helpful to web designers looking for particular solutions, wanting to upgrade their skills, or just wanting to learn a few new techniques to improve their site.

COOKING ON YOUR WEB SITE!!!
Are you a web developer and designer? If you are, then this book is for you! Author Doug Addison, has done an outstanding job of writing a book about building web sites that people will visit, use, bookmark, and revisit.

Addison, begins by untangling the choices that confront web site builders during the process of getting a new web site off the ground. Then, the author discusses site planning and setup. Next, the author presented solutions that will help you balance aesthetics with usability. The author then focuses on the written content that, for the majority of sites, constitutes the meat and potatoes of their online offerings. He continues by covering a few of the most common issues surrounding the use of graphics on a web site, including how to choose the right ones and optimize them for a fast download. Then, the author looks at some techniques for using visual clues. He then goes over some of the little details that make a web site visit successful and enjoyable. Next, the author explains the trust-building techniques and fraud-avoidance maneuvers that help secure both sides in an online transaction. Finally, he discusses both the administrative tasks you should use to maintain your site, as well as the technical procedures you'll need to know to keep your site and your job trouble free.

In this most excellent book you'll find solutions to everything from choosing, registering, and protecting a site's domain name to keep spammers from harvesting the addresses you display on its pages. More importantly, this book can lead the way in showing you how to publish a site that is not only a useful and attractive representation of the business, organization, or person behind it, but is also easy to build, maintain, and update.

Working on Web Sites in a Straight Forward Way
Doug Addison has produced a very useful and informative guide to working on Web sites. While many books look at the mechanics of HTML, or detailed coding, Web Site Cookbook rather follows the O'Reilly cookbook structure, looking at specific issues and needs and presenting answers. The book looks at the other aspects of good Web site work - colors, design and small tasks that are part of everyday Web sites now. Many of the recipes will make a more experienced Web site author go "duh," but I found myself flagging many of the entries if nothing else to do more research using some of the Web resources cited at the end of each recipe. Much of what is talked about is Web Design 101, but with so many WYSIWYG tools out there allowing anyone to produce a simple Web site, it's useful to have someone succinctly state the ideas behind complimentary colors to try and avoid those awful sites that just make your eyes burn. Nothing here is earth shattering or is something that you couldn't find on-line, but the value is Addison's organization and presentation, distilling Web speak into simple language, showing some examples and sending the reader off to other resources if he or she wants. The book is written with the idea that you are programming in PHP on top of an Apache Web server, which may not be relevant to all readers, but even those readers, like myself, who don't use PHP or Apache can carry away quick and valuable information, and have a flagged book to grab and look for information on a specific topic in the future. It's going to be a useful addition to my my desk.

Word Hacks: Tips & Tools for Taming Your Text (Hacks) by Andrew Savikas

Product Description

As one of the applications in Microsoft Office, Word is the dominant word-processing program for both Windows and Mac users. Millions of people around the globe use it. But many, if not most, of them barely skim the surface of what is possible with Microsoft Word. Seduced by the application's supposed simplicity, they settle for just what's obvious--even if it doesn't satisfy their wants and needs. They may curse the wretched Bullets and Numbering buttons multiple times a day or take hours to change the font size of every heading in a lengthy report, yet they're reluctant to dig deeper to take advantage of Word's immense capabilities and limitless customization tools. Let Word Hacks be your shovel. Let it carve your way into Word and make this most popular and powerful application do precisely what you want it to do. Filled with insider tips, tools, tricks, and hacks, this book will turn you into the power user you always wanted to be. Far beyond a tutorial, Word Hacks assumes you have a solid working knowledge of the application and focuses on showing you exactly how to accomplish your pressing tasks, address your frequent annoyances, and solve even your most complex problems. Author Andrew Savikas examines Word's advanced (and often hidden) features and delivers clever, time-saving hacks on taming document bloat, customization, complex search and replace, Tables of Contents and indexes, importing and exporting files, tables and comments, and even using Google as a dictionary! With him as your guide, you'll soon be understanding--and hacking--Word in ways you never thought possible. Covering Word 2000, 2002 and Word 2003, Word Hacks exposes the inner workings of Word and releases your inner hacker; with it, you will be equipped to take advantage of the application s staggering array of advanced features that were once found only in page layout programs and graphics software and turning Word into your personal productivity powerhouse.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #166195 in Books
Published on: 2004-10
Format: Illustrated
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
304 pages
Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Andrew Savikas works in the O'Reilly Tools Group, where he helps the Production department turn manuscripts into O'Reilly books. He developed and maintains the custom Word template and VBA macros used by all the O'Reilly authors who don't insist on writing in POD. Except for the ones who insist on writing in XML. Or Troff. Andrew also works with FrameMaker, FrameScript, InDesign, DocBook XML, Perl, Python, sed, and whatever else he finds lying around the office. He has a degree in Communications from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and lives in Boston with his wife Audrey, who loves to see her name in print.
Customer Reviews

Excellent resource for Word and COM programmers...
It seems like the Hacks series just keeps getting better and better. This time I had a chance to review the book Word Hacks by Andrew Savikas (O'Reilly). As usual, there are a number of items here that I'll be able to use right away...

Chapter list: Word Under the Hood; The Word Workspace; Formatting, Printing, and Table Hacks; Editing Power Tools; Templates and Outlines; Housekeeping; Macro Hacks; Forms and Fields; Advanced Word Hacks; Word 2003 XML Hacks; Index

For those unfamiliar with the Hacks format... It consists of 100 tips, tricks, or unique ways of doing things with the subject at hand (like Word, Excel, etc.). The hacks are normally not things that you would find intuitively obvious, or even things that you thought were just flat-out impossible to do. In Word Hacks, the author (along with a number of contributors) takes you on a trip into the inner world of Word and uncovers a multitude of tricks you've probably never seen...

Wonder how to get IE to launch Word documents in Word? That's hack # 8. Need dummy text to fill out content in a document but you don't want to just type random characters? Check out #14. How about using Word as a Windows backup utility? Yes, you can do that, and hack #81 shows you how.

The thing I like most about this book is the profusion of VBA code to be found. For non-programmers, this might be a hindrance in that a lot of the hacks involve using the VBA code they supply. I can think of a number of potential readers who would be totally lost there. But for developers who use COM to manipulate Word from other software packages, this is a treasure trove of ideas. An excellent "R&D" resource... "Rob & Duplicate"! :-)

If you're an average user of Word or a power user who doesn't want to play with code, you'll get some value here. If you're a techno-geek who wants to program everything, this is your book. Highly recommended...

Break into the world of Word macros
A better subtitle for this is "Tips for Taming It with Macros." The book begins with showing how to tweak the interface to meet your needs, one of the few hacks not requiring macros. For a long time, I never modified the interface beyond choosing the tool bars I wanted to view. I frequently used the word count feature and added that to the interface. Since then, I've learned to modify it based on my needs so I can quickly access the most often used features. Tip #1 is all about that.

Haven't ventured into macros, or at least not much? Get a crash course on how to create and run macros so you can use those included in the book and venture on your own. Savikas explains the basics at the 30-foot level while guiding the reader through the steps of creating and running a simple macro. Many of the hacks use macros.

When clicking on a link to a .doc file from within a Web site, the file opens within the browser and editing it is difficult because many of Word's tool bars are not there for your use. Hack #8 puts an end to this nuisance. In "Building a Better MRU" (most recently used), take the MRU file feature up a notch and pump it up with a form.

According to the book, most of the hacks work with Word 2000, 2002 (also known as Word XP), and 2003. It mentions some of the hacks work with the old Word 97, but the book focuses on 2000, 2002, and 2003. The last chapter, "Word 2003 XML Hacks," begins on page 319 and is the only one specific to the newest version of Word.

The book follows the Hack series model making it easy to use as a reference. All the tips offered are listed in the table of contents. If you like what you find there and want something heavily focused on macros, the book will satisfy your needs. Those looking for a manual with help for getting around Word and discovering some of its power are better off with a different book.

Anyone who is comfy with Word and likes to fiddle with something a little more advanced will get just that. Try a couple of hacks at a time to build up your Word knowledge. Soon you'll be creating your own macros. Those who are macro pros might not glean much from the book. The book's publisher's Web site includes five sample hacks . Try them out to get a feel for what the book offers. The same page has a link for downloading code examples from the book.

Concentrates on macro programming
There is a huge global base of Microsoft Word users; some subset of which should find this book useful. Savikas goes beyond common texts that either get you quickly started on MS Word, or comprehensively tell you of every option. You are presumed to be already facile. So much so that you've run into recurrent annoyances, which perhsps the book can help alleviate.

The hacks deal mostly with problems for which macro programming is needed. It's not about situations where the answer is some obscure manual sequence of steps you must do within MS Word. Nor are the large reference books on MS Word likely to be of help. They do explain macro programming, and give examples. But that consists only of a fraction of their coverage. Whereas, you have here a book focused on macros.

You don't necessarily have to already be programming macros to get something out of this book; though it would help. If a given hack addresses your situation, you can just copy vebatim the hack's solution code into a macro.

Java & XML, 2nd Edition: Solutions to Real-World Problems by Brett McLaughlin

Product Description

While the XML "buzz" still dominates talk among Internet developers, the critical need is for information that cuts through the hype and lets Java programmers put XML to work. Java & XML shows how to use the APIs, tools, and tricks of XML to build real-world applications, with the end result that both the data and the code are portable. This second edition of Java & XML adds chapters on Advanced SAX and Advanced DOM, new chapters on SOAP and data binding, and new examples throughout. A concise chapter on XML basics introduces concepts, and the rest of the book focuses on using XML from your Java applications. Java developers who need to work with XML, or think that they will in the future--as well as developers involved in the new peer-to-peer movement, messaging, or web services--will find the new Java & XML a constant companion. This book covers:
The basics of XML, including DTDs, namespaces, XML Schema, XPath, and XSL
The SAX API, including all handlers, the SAX 2 extensions, filters, and writers
The DOM API, including DOM Level 2, Level 3, and the Traversal, Range, CSS, Events, and HTML modules.
The JDOM API, including the core, a look at XPath support, and JDOM as a JSR
Using web publishing frameworks like Apache Cocoon
Developing applications with XML-RPC
Using SOAP and UDDI for web services
Data Binding, using both DTDs and XML Schema for constraints
Building business-to-business applications with XML
Building information channels with RSS and dynamic content with XSP
Includes a quick reference on SAX 2.0, DOM Level 2, and JDOM.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #508925 in Books
Published on: 2001-09
Format: Illustrated
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
550 pages
Editorial Reviews

Book Info
New second edition focuses entirely on using XML from Java applications. New chapters on Advanced SAX, Advanced DOM, SOAP and data binding, and new examples throughout. Softcover.

About the Author
Brett McLaughlin has been working in computers since the Logo days. (Remember the little triangle?) He currently specializes in building application infrastructure using Java and Java-related technologies. He has spent the last several years implementing these infrastructures at Nextel Communications and Allegiance Telecom, Inc. Brett is one of the co-founders of the Java Apache project Turbine, which builds a reusable component architecture for web application development using Java servlets. He is also a contributor of the EJBoss project, an open source EJB application server, and Cocoon, an open source XML web-publishing engine. He is author of the soon-to-be-released O'Reilly book, Building Java Enterprise Applications.
Customer Reviews

A book worth owning
The author covers some background, but mainly sticks to the business end of dealing with XML using java. The book is set out so you can read the parts that are relevant to getting a particular piece of technology working quickly.

Before reading this book I had never written an XML parser, but within a couple of days I was able to rework a parser to make it work both faster and with a smaller memory footprint by following the guidelines in this book. The details are not covered in great depth, but enough to get a job done, and make this a portabe reference.

Another book worth owning from the O'Reilly press.

Good but could be more.
Second editions are always great. However, I find that I dont like all of the API reference in the book. I would rather look at APIs electronically and talk concepts in the book.

Good introduction, a little diffuse
Compared with .NET and XML this book tends to wander and rat hole a little. The book covers the basics. The SAX and DOM approaches. It also covers XSLT and serving XML. It also covers advanced topics like Castor, JDOM, and web services. But most of the subjects are covered at a cursory level and do not serve as a complete introduction.

There is a small reference at the end of the book which is not as easy to read as the APIs described in the Nutshell style.

I gave this book four stars because, while it does lack focus, it is a good introduction to the XML APIs for Java. In the third release they should concentrate a little harder editing in some focus and a better reference section at the end.

Java and XML Data Binding by Brett McLaughlin

Product Description

More Java developers today want to work with XML, the technology that enables data to be transported intact over the Internet, but they don't have time to become XML experts. If this describes you, then you'll appreciate data binding, the new way of converting XML documents into Java objects, so those documents can be worked on and manipulated like any other Java object, then converted back to XML

This new title provides an in-depth technical look at XML Data Binding. The book offers complete documentation of all features in both the Sun Microsystems JAXB API and popular open source alternative implementations (Enhydra Zeus, Exolabs Castor and Quick). It also gets into significant detail about when data binding is appropriate to use, and provides numerous practical examples of using data binding in applications.

As Author Brett McLaughlin says "Too many books are written about technologies by people who barely understand them. I've already written two data binding implementations (Zeus, and a previous one for IBM DeveloperWorks.) I've actually used data binding for longer than the official specification has been in existence, and I've really been able to dig into what it takes to code an effective data biding implementation, as well as use one correctly. This book is part user guide, part under-the-hood manual, and part use-case. It's a powerful combination, and one I think people need."
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #763478 in Books
Published on: 2002-05
Format: Illustrated
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
214 pages
Editorial Reviews

Book Info
Provides an in-depth technical look at XML Data Binding. Offers complete documentation on all features in both the Sun Microsystems JAXB API and and popular open source alternative implementations. Provides numerous practical examples of using data binding in applications. Softcover.

About the Author
Brett McLaughlin has been working in computers since the Logo days. (Remember the little triangle?) He currently specializes in building application infrastructure using Java and Java-related technologies. He has spent the last several years implementing these infrastructures at Nextel Communications and Allegiance Telecom, Inc. Brett is one of the co-founders of the Java Apache project Turbine, which builds a reusable component architecture for web application development using Java servlets. He is also a contributor of the EJBoss project, an open source EJB application server, and Cocoon, an open source XML web-publishing engine. He is author of the soon-to-be-released O'Reilly book, Building Java Enterprise Applications.
Customer Reviews

Outdated, incorrect information. Stay away!
This book was written before the version 1.0 release of the JAXB data binding API's. As a result much of the information in this book is incorrect and not current. If you follow the instruction in this book you will NOT sucessfully perform XML binding to java objects. For example, the book uses DTD's as the XML description model used by JAXB. This is wrong DTD's were dropped in favor of XML schemas. The instructions for using the JAXB jar files are wrong. The required jars have changed since this book was printed. The instructions for using the generated java data binding classes is wrong, the usage has changed since this book was written. The author tried to get to far ahead of the technology curve on JAXB and as a result authored this book too early in the JAXB life cycle. The book is of minimal value.

Outdated, incorrect information. Stay away!
This book was written before the version 1.0 release of the JAXB data binding API's. As a result much of the information in this book is incorrect and not current. If you follow the instruction in this book you will NOT sucessfully perform XML binding to java objects. For example, the book uses DTD's as the XML description model used by JAXB. This is wrong DTD's were dropped in favor of XML schemas. The instructions for using the JAXB jar files are wrong. The required jars have changed since this book was printed. The instructions for using the generated java data binding classes is wrong, the usage has changed since this book was written. The author tried to get to far ahead of the technology curve on JAXB and as a result authored this book too early in the JAXB life cycle. The book is of minimal value.

Waste of money
This does not talk about JAXB at all. What it talks is about some non standardised APIs that existed before JAXB.
The brief mention of JAXB ( 4 pages ) is only philosphical. Even that is w.r.t. an obselete version with DTD support.
( Current JAXB only supports XML schema )

Learning XML (2nd Edition) by Erik T. Ray

Product 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 languagefor 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.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #6714873 in Books
Published on: 2003-09-01
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
600 pages
Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Although Learning XML covers XML rather broadly, it nevertheless presents the key elements of the technology with enough detail to familiarize the reader with this crucial markup language. This guide is brief enough to tackle in a weekend.

Author Erik T. Ray begins with an excellent summary of XML's history as an outgrowth of SGML and HTML. He outlines very clearly the elements of markup, demystifying concepts such as attributes, entities, and namespaces with numerous clear examples. To illustrate a real-world XML application, he gives the reader a look at a document written in DocBook--a publicly available XML document type for publishing technical writings--and explains the sections of the document step by step. A more simplified version of DocBook is used later in the book to illustrate transformation--a powerful benefit of XML.

The all-important Document Type Definition (DTD) is covered in depth, but the still-unofficial alternative, XML Schema, is only briefly addressed. The author makes liberal use of graphics, tables, and code to demonstrate concepts along the way, keeping the reader engaged and on track. Ray also goes deep into some discussion of programming XML utilities with Perl.

Learning XML is a very readable introduction to XML for readers with existing knowledge of markup and Web technologies. It meets its goals very well--to deliver a broad perspective of XML and its potential. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered:
XML overview
XPointer
XLink
XHTML
Presentation with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
Document Type Definitions (DTDs)
XML Schemas
Transformation with XSLT
Internationalization
Simple API for XML (SAX)

Book Info
A guide to XML and its capabilities, including references to real-life projects. Teaches designers what parts of XML are most helpful, with coverage of basic concepts and core syntax, the use of stylesheets, document modeling with DTDs and XML schema, and internationalization using Unicode. Softcover.

About the Author
Erik T. Ray has worked for O'Reilly Media, Inc. as a software developer and XML specialist since 1995. He helped to establish a complete publishing solution using DocBook-XML and Perl to produce books in print, on CD-ROM, and for the new Safari web library of books. As the author of the O'Reilly best seller Learning XML and numerous articles to technical journals, Erik is known for his clear and entertaining writing style.
Customer Reviews

Great Book for Learning XML
This book taught me a lot about XML and how it is used in the digital publishing world. XML is not limited to web sites and is a great resource for businesses institutions and other publishing needs where a common format is needed for each and every document.

I recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn more about XML and how it is used.

Not a Standalone book, good otherwise
1. YOU WILL NOT TOUCH A KEYBOARD USING THIS BOOK, IT DOESN'T NOT WALK THROUGH EXAMPLES- for those books, try "XML step by step" by Young (Microsoft), and for more advanced, "XML in Action - Web Technology" by Pardi.

2. THIS BOOK IS GREAT: because it teaches in a fundamentally different way. Most of what we see of XML is tags, attributes, the structure of the data in the elements, etc. But this book focus on the DOM. This crucial focus helps understand XML with its uses, XPointer, and transformation.

3. If you want to do a lot with XML, beyond RSS feeds, buy this book along with a walkthrough, like the books listed above.

bad book, too much nonsense
full of nonsense in whole book.
For example, xml schemas chapter is from page 108 to 164 about 60 pages, but realy useful w3c xml schema only take less 8 pages, others, useless, forget them.
Hi my dear author,
you have a lot of work to do, from simple to complex, how can you just give a long example and finish. Do you know "learning" means ***FOCUSING ON CORE***

Professional InfoPath 2003 by Ian Williams

Product Description

What is this book about?

Microsoft InfoPath 2003 helps developers tackle forms-based information-gathering with the full range of XML technologies. This book quickly guides experienced Office and XML developers through InfoPath fundamentals, including XML form templates architecture, form definition file structure, available external data sources, and backend services. From there, you delve into validation and updating forms, both during development and as business needs change. Finally, you examine the InfoPath security model, learning to implement and deploy trusted forms.

The second part of this book is an intensive case study covering metadata processing, exporting XML data to Excel for analysis, and much more.

What does this book cover?

Here are just a few of the things you'll learn in this book:
The development options InfoPath makes available through XML technology
How to combine various form files into a customized template
The architecture of an InfoPath form template and the file types you can use in various applications
Ways to build a form interface using menus or objects on the task pane
Methods to support users at various levels of experience
Different means of validating forms and reporting errors
How to implement digital signatures and other form security measures with InfoPath

Who is this book for?

This book is for experienced corporate developers who have a strong knowledge of XML and related technologies as well as solid experience with Microsoft Office and related applications.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #322740 in Books
Published on: 2004-04-23
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
408 pages
Editorial Reviews

Book Info
Helps developers tackle forms-based information-gathering with the full range of XML technologies. Softcover.

From the Back Cover
Microsoft InfoPath 2003 helps developers tackle forms-based information-gathering with the full range of XML technologies. This book quickly guides experienced Office and XML developers through InfoPath fundamentals, including XML form templates architecture, form definition file structure, available external data sources, and backend services. From there, you’ll delve into validation and updating forms, both during development and as business needs change. Finally, you’ll examine the InfoPath security model, learning to implement and deploy trusted forms.

The second part of this book is an intensive case study covering metadata processing, exporting XML data to Excel for analysis, and much more.

What you will learn from this book
The development options InfoPath makes available through XML technology
How to combine various form files into a customized template
The architecture of an InfoPath form template and the file types you can use in various applications
Ways to build a form interface using menus or objects on the task pane
Methods to support users at various levels of experience
Different means of validating forms and reporting errors
How to implement digital signatures and other form security measures with InfoPath

Who is this book for?

This book is for experienced corporate developers who have a strong knowledge of XML and related technologies as well as solid experience with Microsoft® Office and related applications.

Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.

About the Author
Ian Williams is an information designer specializing in XML technologies and a software technical writer. He worked in the UK publishing industry before getting involved in information technology at OWL International, developers of one of the first commercial hypertext products. Ian was a product manager there, and later a consultant working with large corporate customers.
Since 1998 Ian has worked independently on technical writing and information design projects for customers like Nokia and Reuters. He lives with his wife in London, England, from which they regularly escape to a house on a beach overlooking the English Channel.

Pierre Greborio is chief software architect of PEWay, an Italian software company providing services and Internet technologies for financial companies.
Born in 1971 in Belgium, he graduated as a telecommunication engineer from the University of Pavia in Italy.
His activity is characterized by a strong passion for technology. He participated in several talks at developer conferences and university workshops and wrote several articles for developer magazines and user groups about Microsoft .NET technologies and Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003. In the beginning of 2003, Pierre was given the award of Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for .NET.
Customer Reviews

Ok, complicated topic, or is it ? Net/Net: Wait for next book.
Like so many technology books, this sits in a topic space where there is just not a lot of material to draw from. Much like its cousins, BizTalk, SiteServer, and CRM - there is not a wealth of information available in print media. Ok, so what makes this book a bummer?

A reasonable person would assume that when you buy a book for $40-60, that you are getting something insightful - something that you would have traded your sister for to have figured out without spinning your wheels endlessly or burning support incidents @ $225 a pop. Unfortunately, this book adopts the lowest possible threshold in terms of content. Here's the irony: I sat down to plug away at an InfoPath Solution and figured I'd follow the book just to see what happened. By Page 10 I was annoyed. By Page 20 I was checking the Index and Appendix to search for my specific interests (after all, I had something I wanted to get on with). An hour later, I was consulting some very cool material online, complete with blow-by-blow examples, code shots, and visuals. Book has been sitting in its last known good configuration since then. What's worse, a simple search on the InfoPath help topic yielded EXACTLY the same material as in the book. Well WTF. It turns out that Wrox's authors basically pillaged and regugitated the Help file - almost verbatim. That's what prompted me to write this. I didn't have to pay for the book, but if I did - I would be plenty pissed-off right now....and shortly after I calmed down, Barnes and Noble (err...or Amazon, yeah that's it!) would be getting my return. Naturally, at that point I would have burned 5 hours between shopping, buying, reading, commenting and returning the book - which is a gross waste of time. Save yours: listen up.

The first 4 chapters of this book talk about XML, Schemas, DTD's, XSLT, and reference materials. Honestly, there's so much useless information here, you might as well read the intro and go straight to Chapter 5. Why? For several resons: I don't need a reference book on XML, or any of its cousins. That's already published for free. Plus, InfoPath takes all of that pain away. Drag and drop, link controls to bindings, choose a data source, link it to your bindings and away you go. I don't need to read 100 pages of materials on the inner workings - we know it works, that's why we're using it. Only the most bleeding edge / neurotic / hardcore developers with weird requirements are ever going to have to mess around with that stuff. Rapid Applications Development anyone? - That's what InfoPath was designed for.

Chapters 5,6,7,8 are the meat. Chapters 15,16,17 have worthwhile examples of ADO.NET script.


What I would like to see:

Working examples of full-on solutions. Fabrikam, BizTalk, SQL, BI.

More code shots.

Show me how to design a Form within Visual Studio.Net 2003/2005, and work the code-behind to do neat stuff.
Show me how I can develop solutions using SharePoint, XML, and BizTalk.
Show me how to create a custom Web Service? (this is, ahem, rather important, and not very well done)

Solutions people. Rapid development. Small books that put you in the driver's seat ASAP.

This isn't it.

Note: One of the best publishers I have seen recently re: Technical Books has to be Rational Press. I have found their books to be highly insightful, right to the heart of the matter, and @ sub-100 (or thereabouts) pages, you get a lot of bang for $20 bucks.

(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/ref=s_sf_b_as/002-0585726-2670403)

Wrox: Are you listening? Bad Monkeys. Stop the proliferation of title after title. It's like like dating a Narcissitic woman: they're so in love with themselves that they LIVE to hear themselves talk: even if it's complete Tripe that comes out of their mouths.

Technologists (aspirinig or professionals) would do well to remember that Wrox is in the business of publishing and selling books: that doesn't always mean that they are worth your time or your money. I have watched Wrox's value as a print resource slowly degrade since I stated reading their titles in 2000. In my opinion, they are no longer a trusted (and valued) informational resource. Wrox has saturated the marketplace with title after sub-title - many of which never should have received their own cover, much less their whopping price tags. (Do you guys publish books at any other price point other than $50.00?) Not many, to be sure.

Potential buyers: think, read, and review before you buy any technology book. Wait for the next offering on InfoPath (if there is one before Office v.12). Your best bet will be online: MSDN, GotDotNet, BizTalk, and some other very neat sites that specialize in valuable content - for free! Google it. You won't be sorry.

ch

Not for Dummies
Professional InfoPath 2003 is definately not "InfoPath for Dummies". This in-depth look at the behind the scenes technology of InfoPath is an XML-lovers dream - excellent details regarding how InfoPath uses xml technology. If you are looking for a "how to use InfoPath" book, this isn't it. If you are a programmer who wants or needs to know every detail of how InfoPath uses xml, you've found the right book.

Professional XML Databases by Michael Brundage

Product Description

: In this book, we look at how to integrate XML into your current relational data source strategies. With the increasing amount of data stored in relational databases, and the importance of XML as a format for marking up data - whether it be for storage, display, interchange, or processing - you need to have command of four key skills: understanding how to structure, process, access, and store your data.

By introducing guidelines for how to model your XML documents in relational databases and how to model relational database information as XML, we will establish structures that enable quick and efficient access, and make our data more flexible. We then look at the developer's XML toolbox, discussing associated technologies and strategies that will help us in describing, processing, and manipulating data. We also discuss common techniques for data access, data warehousing, transmission, and marshalling and presentation, giving working examples in every chapter.

Whether you are using XML for storage, as an interchange format, or for display, this book looks at some of the key issues you should be aware of when structuring, processing, accessing, and storing your documents.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #722608 in Books
Published on: 2000-01-15
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
1005 pages
Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
In addition to being a tutorial for learning how to use XML as an effective way to represent and transmit data across the Web, Professional XML Databases also covers how to work with XML in the current generation of Microsoft tools, like Internet Explorer and SQL Server 2000. For any developer or manager who works with databases on the Windows platform, this book shows how you can delve into XML today for real projects.

With endorsements from virtually every major vendor (including Microsoft), XML looks to be a compelling standard for sharing corporate data between organizations. Professional XML Databases examines how to integrate XML into your organization's database infrastructure. Early sections concentrate on the rules and strategies for designing effective XML documents (DTDs) that mimic traditional tables (including links between tables). By providing almost a dozen rules on how to do this correctly, the book assures that you'll learn not only the basics of XML syntax but also the correct way to create DTDs that are efficient, easy to maintain, and readable across your business. (Further sections reverse this process and show you how to create database tables based on XML.)

Subsequent sections cover many of the standards and APIs in today's XML, from XML Schemas, the XML W3C Document Object Model (DOM), and the Simple API for XML (SAX), to related standards like XSLT, XPath, and XPointer. A number of books cover these APIs, but this one provides a unique focus by examining Microsoft tools and their support for XML. This means there is coverage of Microsoft ADO (and ADO+, now called ADO.NET) for querying databases and packaging the results as XML. Sections on SQL Server 2000 highlight ways to use XML in this product, both as results and through XML views.

Closing sections explore options for working with XML for data warehousing and transmitting data efficiently across organizations. Sections on Java and the DB Prism (an open-source XML framework) help give this book a perspective that extends beyond the Microsoft platform.

For any database developer or designer who needs to architect XML documents in order to share data in real projects, this advanced treatise on the right way to define and use XML will prove highly valuable. For anyone who uses SQL Server 2000, this book also points the way toward using XML standards in actual shipping products on the Microsoft platform. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:
Hints for effective XML document design (including XML for text and XML for databases)
Designing XML for existing database tables
Creating database tables from XML
Standards guidelines for XML used within (and between) organizations
XML Schemas
The XML W3C Document Object Model (DOM)
Using the Simple API for XML (SAX)
XSLT
XPath used with style sheets and templates
Resource linking with XLink
Overview of additional emerging XML-based standards (including XBase, XInclude, XHTML, and XForms)
The XML Query language
Converting between flat file databases and XML
Introduction to Microsoft ADO, ADO+ (ADO.NET), and XML
Storing and retrieving XML in SQL Server 2000 (including OPENXML and XML views)
Tutorial for JDBC programming
JDBC used with XML
Data warehousing
Data transmission with XML
The Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)
Marshalling and presentation with XML (including a WML example for generating wireless content)
Sample case studies for SQL Server 2000 showing XML techniques
DB Prism (an open-source dynamic XML framework)
XML and database primers
References for XML datatypes and SAX

Book Info
A text for programmers and analysts familiar with XML and relational databases, focusing on the development and implementation of XML databases. Looks at key issues in structuring, formatting, accessing, and storing documents, also discussing techniques for data transmission, marshalling, and presentation. Softcover.

From the Publisher
This book has been selected by the editors of Wrox Press to be part of the Wroxbase website.

While this book will discuss some conceptual issues, its focus is on development and implementation. This is a book for programmers and analysts who are already famaliar with both XML and relational databases.
Customer Reviews

Book Rocks!!
this is very well written book. the material presented in this book are exhaustive and gets you good insight on how xml would be used with dbms. the chapters 2,3 and 4 are very informatiove as they list ou tthe steps required for converting db table to xml and vice versa.

No details on NATIVE XML DBs???
Interesting that you basically ignore native XML DBs. They are the definitive choice in most XML Document Centric environments. While RDBs remain quite strong in XML Data Centric models, they must resort to BLOBs or risk an order of magnitude of sluggishness compared to native XML DBs, such as our GoXML DB. Even with BLOBs, you cannot create a new document from multiple existing documents because of the columnar structure. The lack of a full table of contents when your title is 'Professional XML Databases' is disappointing...

Concerned XML Enthusiast

Good overview of new XML and database trends
I read through this book at more of an advanced developer level, so I'm going to treat it from that level.

The chapter on XQuery was great; it answered many of my questions concisely. There is very little information on the web about XQuery outside the W3.org site, so I was surprised to find such high quality information in a book.

XPath is also a newer API that is covered well in this book, giving you enough information to get your project going.

If you're planning to do any kind of development with XML coming in or going out of a relational database, this is an excellent book to buy. I also recommend Professional XML from Wrox and O'Reilly's XML in a nutshell.

Professional XML Databases by Michael Brundage

Product Description

: In this book, we look at how to integrate XML into your current relational data source strategies. With the increasing amount of data stored in relational databases, and the importance of XML as a format for marking up data - whether it be for storage, display, interchange, or processing - you need to have command of four key skills: understanding how to structure, process, access, and store your data.

By introducing guidelines for how to model your XML documents in relational databases and how to model relational database information as XML, we will establish structures that enable quick and efficient access, and make our data more flexible. We then look at the developer's XML toolbox, discussing associated technologies and strategies that will help us in describing, processing, and manipulating data. We also discuss common techniques for data access, data warehousing, transmission, and marshalling and presentation, giving working examples in every chapter.

Whether you are using XML for storage, as an interchange format, or for display, this book looks at some of the key issues you should be aware of when structuring, processing, accessing, and storing your documents.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #722608 in Books
Published on: 2000-01-15
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
1005 pages
Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
In addition to being a tutorial for learning how to use XML as an effective way to represent and transmit data across the Web, Professional XML Databases also covers how to work with XML in the current generation of Microsoft tools, like Internet Explorer and SQL Server 2000. For any developer or manager who works with databases on the Windows platform, this book shows how you can delve into XML today for real projects.

With endorsements from virtually every major vendor (including Microsoft), XML looks to be a compelling standard for sharing corporate data between organizations. Professional XML Databases examines how to integrate XML into your organization's database infrastructure. Early sections concentrate on the rules and strategies for designing effective XML documents (DTDs) that mimic traditional tables (including links between tables). By providing almost a dozen rules on how to do this correctly, the book assures that you'll learn not only the basics of XML syntax but also the correct way to create DTDs that are efficient, easy to maintain, and readable across your business. (Further sections reverse this process and show you how to create database tables based on XML.)

Subsequent sections cover many of the standards and APIs in today's XML, from XML Schemas, the XML W3C Document Object Model (DOM), and the Simple API for XML (SAX), to related standards like XSLT, XPath, and XPointer. A number of books cover these APIs, but this one provides a unique focus by examining Microsoft tools and their support for XML. This means there is coverage of Microsoft ADO (and ADO+, now called ADO.NET) for querying databases and packaging the results as XML. Sections on SQL Server 2000 highlight ways to use XML in this product, both as results and through XML views.

Closing sections explore options for working with XML for data warehousing and transmitting data efficiently across organizations. Sections on Java and the DB Prism (an open-source XML framework) help give this book a perspective that extends beyond the Microsoft platform.

For any database developer or designer who needs to architect XML documents in order to share data in real projects, this advanced treatise on the right way to define and use XML will prove highly valuable. For anyone who uses SQL Server 2000, this book also points the way toward using XML standards in actual shipping products on the Microsoft platform. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:
Hints for effective XML document design (including XML for text and XML for databases)
Designing XML for existing database tables
Creating database tables from XML
Standards guidelines for XML used within (and between) organizations
XML Schemas
The XML W3C Document Object Model (DOM)
Using the Simple API for XML (SAX)
XSLT
XPath used with style sheets and templates
Resource linking with XLink
Overview of additional emerging XML-based standards (including XBase, XInclude, XHTML, and XForms)
The XML Query language
Converting between flat file databases and XML
Introduction to Microsoft ADO, ADO+ (ADO.NET), and XML
Storing and retrieving XML in SQL Server 2000 (including OPENXML and XML views)
Tutorial for JDBC programming
JDBC used with XML
Data warehousing
Data transmission with XML
The Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)
Marshalling and presentation with XML (including a WML example for generating wireless content)
Sample case studies for SQL Server 2000 showing XML techniques
DB Prism (an open-source dynamic XML framework)
XML and database primers
References for XML datatypes and SAX

Book Info
A text for programmers and analysts familiar with XML and relational databases, focusing on the development and implementation of XML databases. Looks at key issues in structuring, formatting, accessing, and storing documents, also discussing techniques for data transmission, marshalling, and presentation. Softcover.

From the Publisher
This book has been selected by the editors of Wrox Press to be part of the Wroxbase website.

While this book will discuss some conceptual issues, its focus is on development and implementation. This is a book for programmers and analysts who are already famaliar with both XML and relational databases.
Customer Reviews

Book Rocks!!
this is very well written book. the material presented in this book are exhaustive and gets you good insight on how xml would be used with dbms. the chapters 2,3 and 4 are very informatiove as they list ou tthe steps required for converting db table to xml and vice versa.

No details on NATIVE XML DBs???
Interesting that you basically ignore native XML DBs. They are the definitive choice in most XML Document Centric environments. While RDBs remain quite strong in XML Data Centric models, they must resort to BLOBs or risk an order of magnitude of sluggishness compared to native XML DBs, such as our GoXML DB. Even with BLOBs, you cannot create a new document from multiple existing documents because of the columnar structure. The lack of a full table of contents when your title is 'Professional XML Databases' is disappointing...

Concerned XML Enthusiast

Good overview of new XML and database trends
I read through this book at more of an advanced developer level, so I'm going to treat it from that level.

The chapter on XQuery was great; it answered many of my questions concisely. There is very little information on the web about XQuery outside the W3.org site, so I was surprised to find such high quality information in a book.

XPath is also a newer API that is covered well in this book, giving you enough information to get your project going.

If you're planning to do any kind of development with XML coming in or going out of a relational database, this is an excellent book to buy. I also recommend Professional XML from Wrox and O'Reilly's XML in a nutshell.