Rating: 
Summary: XML Redemption
Review: About a year ago I bought an xml book title "Mastering XML" by Sybex to be exact, and it was a disappointment. It was so boring to read, and not only that, it got me confused on the fundumentals of what I can do with XML. Starting out on a new subject on the wrong foot was a huge let down and set back. As a result, it got me to put aside XML for months.Months past and seeing my peers raving on with how easy it was to work with XML was more than I can beared. I wanted to get back in the game and quick. What I want was just one solid book, no boring theory, just XML to core. I want an XML book that focuses on the fundumentals, and leave all the theory and advance mumble-jumble stuffs to the programmers to sort it out in his/her own terms. With help from other reviews, I found that book! And this is that book. It is well organized with XML internal structures and layouts. It explains how to use XML in plain simple steps, in plain english, and in plain diagrams. In just days, XML was starting to unraveled itself, and I know exactly how to use it, where to use it, and when to use it. FINALLY, xml redemption! BTW, I agreed with the other reviewer, "If stranded on an island and allow just one XML book, this is the one."
Rating:
Summary: XML Redemption
Review: About a year ago I bought an xml book title "Mastering XML" by Sybex to be exact, and it was a disappointment. It was so boring to read, and not only that, it got me confused on the fundumentals of what I can do with XML. Starting out on a new subject on the wrong foot was a huge let down and set back. As a result, it got me to put aside XML for months. Months past and seeing my peers raving on with how easy it was to work with XML was more than I can beared. I wanted to get back in the game and quick. What I want was just one solid book, no boring theory, just XML to core. I want an XML book that focuses on the fundumentals, and leave all the theory and advance mumble-jumble stuffs to the programmers to sort it out in his/her own terms. With help from other reviews, I found that book! And this is that book. It is well organized with XML internal structures and layouts. It explains how to use XML in plain simple steps, in plain english, and in plain diagrams. In just days, XML was starting to unraveled itself, and I know exactly how to use it, where to use it, and when to use it. FINALLY, xml redemption! BTW, I agreed with the other reviewer, "If stranded on an island and allow just one XML book, this is the one."
Rating:
Summary: Worth every penny...
Review: An excellent book worth every penny I paid for it. However, I do find it strange the authors covered a topic such as XSL-FO, for which support is almost non-existent, while ignoring schemas, for which there is wide support. Other than the schema issue, this is a very fine book with clear and concise writing with an excellent recipe for Southern Corn Bread.
Rating:
Summary: the best XML book seen so far!
Review: As usual, the orieilly contribute another reliable book. This is by far the best XML book I have seen so far.
Rating: 
Summary: Good reference, but where was the editor?
Review: As usual, this O'Reilly book makes a good reference into XML and is chock full of information. HOWEVER, as it seems to have been the case lately, this book was not very well edited, almost as if they pushed it through to get published. Examples: Page 35: ?, *, + are all listed as allowing zero or one element, where they are actually each unique. Page 133: The authors show linking in an XSL Stylesheet in an XML Document and they list the type of linked in document as "text/xml" which will NOT produce the desired result. They type should actually be "text/xsl". (this can be a quite frustrating error to debug) Similar examples are scattered throughout, plus their decision to not even discuss XML Schemas leaves me a bit puzzled, but I knew that when I bought the book so I can complain too much. If you need a good reference to XML, and you can overlook small errors, then go ahead and purchase the book. If the errors bug you then I suggest you wait for the second edition.
Rating:
Summary: Stranded on an island & allowed one XML book, this is it!
Review: Blaise Pascal once wrote "I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter". Writing a book on XML is quite an undertaking. Writing a quick reference that not only provides expert coverage on XML and its associated technologies but does so concisely, practically, and comprehensively is a super human feat! Amazingly, the authors of "XML In A Nutshell" have accomplished just that and it shows. One of the authors, Elliotte Rusty Harold, is no stranger to the technology. He is an early adopter who has written two previous XML books (and several good Java books) and created a web site devoted to XML (Cafe con Leche). This book is divided into 4 parts. The first covers the essentials of XML including XML syntax, DTD and namespaces. The second covers 'Narrative Centric Documents' involving XSLT, CSS, XLinks, XPointers and XPath. The third covers 'Data Centric XML, ' involving DOM and SAX. The final part is a quick reference to all the above. Each part contains tutorials that are concisely written and packed with practical examples. Beginners can use it to jump-start their learning experience and experts can use this as a indispensable ready reference. XML Schema is mentioned but not covered in this book. Hats off to O'Reilly Associates for producing a professionally attractive, well-designed and portable book. It is comfortable to read and to hold. Stranded on a island and allowed only one XML book, this is it!
Rating:
Summary: Complete coverage
Review: Covers XML completely. No questions are left outstanding. This is the best book on XMl that I have seen. Complaints? Would like to have more detail on BizTalk server - but maybe that's another book.
Rating:
Summary: Thumbs up
Review: Excellent. All the topics are covered very well. Both the nut shell chapters and reference chapters are well done. I highly recommend this book. Instead of pouring through the vast information on XML and realted techlogies and confusing myself, I thought I will bet my 30 bucks on O'reilly. Well , I am glad I did that. As a java programmer I am greatful to the authors insight to add references for SAX and DOM. I liked the chapters on namespaces,XPath, XPointers and XSL-FO. They gave a good introduction and insight into these technologies.
Rating:
Summary: Good but many Mistakes
Review: Good explanations and examples but download all of the verified and unverified errata off of [the web] to save yourself some pain. Don't count on the example files to be any more bug-free than the book.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have For ALL Developers
Review: I can't stress to you enough that this is the XML book of all XML books. I am NOT an expert in XML, but with this book, I can fumble my way through an XML application. This book will NOT teach you everything there is to know about XML. This book IS a wonderful reference to thumb through for each XML question that arises. If I had to buy one XML book to do my job, XML in a Nutshell would be the one. I own many books in the "Nutshell" series and absolutely LOVE and use them all. So if you've got a project in XML to complete, go get this book and watch how much time it saves you.
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