Rating:  - Not an introductory tutorial
I chose this book after reading the glowing reviews here at Amazon, hoping to use it as an introductory tutorial to XML. I was disappointed!
The writing style chosen by the author is terse, as if writing space is at a premium - and this for a book which is 600+ pages long. The examples are badly chosen in my opinion, and the explanation of basic concepts is presented in the style of a reference manual. Take for example the explanation of the NOTATION element attribute: "A notation type attribute contains the name of a notation declared in the document's DTD... In theory, it could be used to associate types with particular elements, as well as limiting the types associated with the elements".
At this stage, I gave up on this book and went instead to Hunter's "Beginning XML". Still, all wasn't lost: I read a colleague's copy, so at least I wasn't out of pocket.
Rating:  - XML in a Nutshell
The organization of the book is great. Very useful and well written. It provides quick-reference syntax rules and usage examples for the core XML technologies, including XML, DTDs, Xpath, XSLT, SAX, and DOM. Develop an understanding of well-formed XML, DTDs, namespaces, Unicode, and W3C XML Schema.
This new edition is the comprehensive XML reference. Serious users of XML will find coverage on just about everything they need, from fundamental syntax rules, to details of DTD and XML Schema creation, to XSLT transformations, to APIs used for processing XML documents.
The initial chapter on SAX along with the reference chapter would give me a solid foundational base from which to work. If you need explanation of how a technology works, or just need to quickly find the precise syntax for a particular piece, XML in a Nutshell puts the information at your fingertips. I would recommend this book to someone interested in its topic. This book has earned a valued place on my reference shelf.
Rating:  - THE definitive XML reference
In my opinion, XML In A Nutshell is the definitive reference for XML syntax and use. I've had this book on my desk since the first edition. Now at edition 3, this book just keeps getting better and better. It covers virtually every XML standard, provides lots of examples, and has a character set reference that I couldn't live without. Highly recommended for all XML questions.
Like many of the "Nutshell" books, this book starts off with a lot of informational chapters, designed to give a high level view of many XML-related technologies. These chapters, while a bit vague in parts, are still very good and will answer most general questions. However, when you have a deeper question, the reference chapters in the second half of the book really shine. The reference material is well organized, making information easy to find and digest.
Personally, my favorite chapters are the XPath Reference and the XSLT Reference sections.
Anyone who works with XML on a daily basis should have this book at their desk. This is the one book to have on XML.
Rating: - Loaded with info but needs better editing/organization
They might as well take out the first half of the book at trying to teach beginners XML. The reason being that the writing style is confusing, full of long run-on sentences, with few to no examples for demonstration. As a reference book, this is probably a flawless companion. And it does say that it's intended for experienced developers. The tutorial chapters serve well as reviews and tips if the person already knows some XML. Also, make sure you check the book's web site, it has a long errata list, so get ready to correct those errors. If you're a beginner to XML, this isn't the book to start out with. I recommend "Beginning XML - 3rd Edition" by Wrox Press as your first XML book.
Rating: - Covers almost every major XML standard
This is a combination field guide and terse standards reference for XML. It covers an amazing variety of XML standards. From the fundamentals of XML, through the document standards, and into transformation technologies like XSLT. Standards include; XML, XPath, XLink, XSLT, XSL-FO, XML Schema, DTDs, among others. The book also cover some standards that use XML, like SAX and DOM.
The book is fairly high level. It assumes that you know the basics and need a complete reference for the technologies. This is that case with all of the Nutshell books, but given the amount of technologies this books cover, the coverage is fairly terse.
The organization of the book is great. There are only a few illustrations and they are used effectively. A solid reference for anyone who works with XML technologies on a daily basis. Highly recommended.
|
