Learning XML: Creating Self-Describing Data

For the longest time, I had heard about XML and all it could do, but never what it was. I had many misconceptions about what it did and how it worked. My little head thought that for all of the hype, it must be some super complex programming language, not something as simple as a formatted document looking very similar to HTML. When I finally figured out what XML was, I started looking online at the various sources that attempted to explain what XML was, but then they got into XPaths, XSLT, SAX and DOM, but with little to no explainations. I almost gave up on XML because I figured out how to form an XML document, but how the heck was I to get that information and make it useful? Enter O'Reilly's Learning XML. In very clear, organized language (a common trait of almost all O'Reilly books) XML and all of it's basics were laid out before me. XSLT, XPath, XPointer, Schemas and more are all covered. The first three chapters are probably the most important to read straight through because they give you the basics of XML structure. Each subsequent chapter is organized so that you can reference them as needed to do what you need to do. The book assumes that you know nothing of XML and builds from there at a good pace. It wasn't so slow that I got bored, nor was it so fast that I felt lost. Learning XML, Second Edition met my needs for successfully teaching me the fundamentals of XML in a non-language/platform specific manner. I would recommend to anyone with little or no knowledge of XML. From reading this book, I now feel confident incorporating XML into some of my future projects.

This books has a conversational tone to it. I found it relaxing trying to learn a subject which, though easy, has so many parts to it that you can get confused. You learn how XML works and how it works with all the other modules. It's not a "kit" for putting things together for you. Using this book, you can write XML pages which work and you'll understand why it does.

I am a C, Unix Shell, and Perl programmer. This means that I have a lot of interaction with XML.I'm not really interested in sitting down and learning XML because I wouldnt actually go and write it myself. There are plenty of perl modules (XML::Parser, XML::Twig, and so on) that will do that for me. However, I wanted to have some understanding of what XML actually was, and how to read it if I were presented in it.This book started very slow and very easily, and moved into some more advanced (if a little more dry) subject matter. The author uses witty, enjoyable examples, and is very clear at all times about what is being explained.I would recommend this to most programmers who want to just "know what XML is all about," as it isnt particularly technical (if you are just skimming), and its technical enough for people to get into if need be. It also covers most topics very thoroughly.Another gem from OReilly.

SHORT: I highly recommend this book if you know HTML and have some exposure to CSS; it's a good intro book to XML, which is what it's intended to be. The end result is that you'll know enough to get started with more technical books, and where to go for available web resources.LONGER: The reasons that other people have given for not liking this book are some of the same reasons that I find it useful. I'm pretty well-versed in HTML and have some basic understanding of JavaScript and Cascading Style Sheets. This book goes into detail about both and gives comparisons and evolutions that involve XML. I'm about halfway through it at the moment, and it's giving me a clear, not-to-technical view of XML. The other books I have go straight into the code, telling me HOW but not really explaining the WHY of everything. That's what makes this book great to me. The first half deals with explanation and presentation, while the last half is more code-heavy. The two other books I have strive to be highly technical, but proved to be a bit overwhelming for me as a complete newbie to the subject of XML.

In the world of web design there are certain things you need to know, HTML is the basic foundation of all web pages. As you advance in the design arena the more complicated languages you learn the further you can go. Learning XML is a 350 page book that will take you from the basics of the XML code to the stage where you will be able to design and code pages with the very best. This book is a great example of how others lend their knowledge so you can benefit. Starting off with the basics and origins of XML you will quickly move to the building of XML documents. Then from there you learn the ways to link and program within XML to enhance the documents you create. Finally there is a section on transforming the documents to XML and the author has made sure that you have the code examples to learn from as you go. Overall this is one excellent book for beginners to intermediate level web designers.