Rating:  - Link for updates to book...
An earlier post provided a link to Wiley that now appears to be outdated. However, I did find the new link on their website. I have not used this product and had to rate it to provide feedback. So, I gave it a neutral so as not so skew the reviews.
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Rating: - Covers the material pretty well, but sloppy.
Overall this is an decent place to start with XML. It covers what needs to be covered to get you up to speed, and most readers with any technical background could probably could do it at about the pace that the book advertises (15 hours to get up to speed on XML.) Organization and writing are mostly OK.
Hovever, the book is sloppy. It repeats itself in several places. Some editing notes are left in the text. One exercise is presented before giving proper background, so the reader doesn't even know how to do the exercise. Some obvious questions are left unanswered, leaving the reader feeling frustrated. Clearly the book was not 'street tested'.
Overall, if you can forgive the books faults, you are given a good grasp of the key XML concepts. This is par for the course, and so I give it 3 stars. It gives you the knowledge you need, but does so a sloppy way.
Rating:  - Readable and Sufficient
I would recommend this to anyone with a working knowledge of HTML who is looking for an introduction to the various utilities of XML. While not incredibly in-depth and by no means comprehensive, this book is successful in giving you hands-on experience in some basic coding, as well as allowing you to understand the purpose and functionality of the language. I got it used, and cannot think of a better steal for in the $5 to $10 range... it's definitely worth grabbing at that price, but understand that it's a jumping off point, not a comprehensive guide.
Rating: - Good Intro Book but a little lacking
This is a good intro book that is very easy to follow. There are exercises and examples as well. Unfortunately, some of the material - especially the website references and suggested downloads - are a little dated (published 2001 = 4 years ago). Also, schemas (XSDs) are touched on but do not get much space devoted to them in the book. Likewise, a lot of time is spent on DTDs. I believe schemas are now widely adopted instead of DTDs. Nevertheless, you can learn much of the XML basics with this book. I suggest browsing for a title published more recently before making this book your final choice.
Rating: - XML Weekend Crash Course (with CD-ROM)
It is a great little book to read and understand. I would recommend your weekend reading it.
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