The XML Handbook [With Includes Comprehensive Suite of XML Tools...]

In this book you can find almost any applications of XML, including the latest development of Web services and VoiceXML.It's especially for students who want to look for a project/thesis topic on XML or CTOs who wish to understand the business various scenarios where XML can be applied. Admittedly, with 69 chapters in about 1100 pages, this book cannot have too much depth. Don't expect to use it as a daily programming reference book. It's more like a jump board that can set you in a specific direction of the XML world --- Then you should consult a more detailed book on that specific topic. It also introduces the various business software around XML.Besides, this book is very entertaining.

There is nothing in this book's title or product description that indicates that it teaches XML programming. If that's the type of book you're seeking I recommend "Definitive XML Application Development" by Lars Marius Garshol. If, however, you're an architect, chief technical officer or IT functional manager this book will provide you with one of the most complete and comprehensive descriptions of XML that's available.What you get is a thorough examination of XML, from its SGML beginnings to what it has evolved into, how to use it to solve real business problems, and the related specifications. Because this book is over 1200 pages it can be overwhelming. However, you need not read it in sequence, or even cover-to-cover to get value. It's a reference and a business case combined, and is best used as a resource in the architecture group or shared among developers who need to ensure that what is being developed is in line with W3C specifications. In addition, the overwhelming array of applications that come on the two CD ROMs will save a lot of time downloading trial copies from their vendors, and give you many choices to evaluate for internal use. It also saves expensive developer (or consultant) time and corporate bandwidth.If you work with XML you'll find this book to be one of the best general references you can own. Better yet, get "The Definitive XML Professional Toolkit", which contains this book and two others, and you'll have a ready-made XML reference library.

This book provides the non-technical reader with an excellent introduction to XML and the various technologies that surround it. The book gives a number of case-studies showing how XML was used to solve problems in various fields. This book is not "XML in 43 hours and 18 minutes for the Clue Challanged" nor is it a reference book. Rather it shows you the XML forest that can become obscured by the trees of DTD, XSL, CSS, and ETC. If you are a manager and you're not sure what XML can do but you think it might solve a problem you are facing, read this book.

"~buy this book to get an excellent overview of XML and its potential applicability to your web needs. very clear and easy read. worth taking the time to read and understand who, what, when, where, and why XML. the brush strokes are broad and provide reader with sound high level foundation and perspective."~ the perspective; but, you need the know how and are chomping at the bit to get into the doing part of actually solving your problem and getting to your solution, then this is not the book for you.

We have two copies constantly floating through our office. It was the first book on XML I encountered and, having never done SGML--but knowing HTML--it has given me a strong DTD and XML implementation consciousness that continues to serve me well. As a humanities scholar with no prior formal computer training, this text opened the world of XML to me accessibly and concisely.