Essential XML for Web Professionals
March 21, 2010 by BPELworld.com
Product Description
The fastest way for busy professionals to master the XML skills needed for building dynamic, portable, and scalable applications. By completing hands-on projects covering a wide range of development tasks, you’ll master key XML technologies. Softcover.
Buy from Amazon –> Essential XML for Web Professionals
Just skip all the others and buy this one. Really.
Rating: 4 / 5
This book is a really good basic book to get started. I’ve enjoyed it.
Rating: 5 / 5
I’m an ASP developer with just over a year’s experience. This is the first book I’ve read on XML, and if I have a question, it will be the first place I look.
This book has it all, except solid examples that tie it all together. I now understand how vast and capable XML is, but I haven’t gained an ability to put it to any real practical use.
Items I don’t agree with:
1. The book is not 500 pages …Page 223 marks the start of Appendix A, the XML 1.0 specification. The index ends on page 345. 122 pages of reference (over 33%).
2. The book’s cover states I will learn to build web applications fast. Huh? There are no sample applications, only examples of how to use the syntax being discussed.
3. The cover states that I will learn by doing, as I work on a fictional e-commerce site. Huh? There are no exercises, and there is no e-commerce site being built.
4. The cover refers to real-scenarios. Again, where are they?
5. A chapter titled, “Common Examples of XML”, was really an introduction to SMIL, SVG, and WDDX. Good stuff, but not what I was expecting.
This book needs a companion to deliver all that’s been promised. I still don’t have a clear picture of the XML DOM, the difference between a node and an element, nor do I have an idea of where I should be using XML (instead of (or with) the technologies I’m already familiar with (i.e. ASP, ADO, and JavaScript)).
Considering how the other reviews have labeled this book #1, is there any hope? Can anyone recommend a book that’s better at painting the big picture?
Rating: 3 / 5
The book starts out nicely explaining everything and it gets you motivated. From chapter 3 onwards, 19 pages later, its all guess work. He gives pieces of information with no coherent example that shows how all these pieces fit together. Its left up to your imagination to guess how it all comes together. Once more, I had to go back to internet tutorials (which I have found to be way better than a lot of computer programming books). XML is not rocket science. If you can’t write a descent book about it, you ought to think about quiting the writing profession (stick to writing code). This was a waste of my time and money; needless to say a waste of paper and ink too.
Rating: 1 / 5
Could have been good or even great. It starts clear, correct, and well-structured. Then about a third of the way through the book (which is really half the content because the last third is an absolete printing of the XML spec) the writing gets lazy. Comprehending the material becomes an absolute chore as all structure is lost.
The first part is the best intro to XML that I’ve read, but it’s just an intro.
Rating: 3 / 5