Rating: 
Summary: At last, a book with some thought behind it.
Review: I get tired of books which are poorly annotated, cut and paste jobs of specifications I can get on the Web with fancy titles that promise a whole lot and deliver little.I bought this book because it shows how XML can solve architectural problems that exist with some Web technologies. These guys have put into the book a lot of thinking that you won't pick up from a spec or some other dry books on the subject. Full marks for their easy writing style which gives meaning and interest to something that is really quite boring. I have bought other books on XML which will probably keep me warm this winter for a while. I'd recommend this book to everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: ATTN: unix/java engineers -- way too much IE/VBScript/MS!
Review: I guess I expected that a platform independent standard such as XML would have been better expained using a platform independent language such as java. For the unix/java engineers out there....this book contains much useful information and don't get me wrong, I learned a lot. The question is, would I have learned as much or possibly more if I didn't have to put up with 90% of the code examples written in VBScript? Many examples require Internet Explorer. Content was up-to-date and informative but somewhat repetative (12 authors).
Rating:
Summary: unsurpassed xml guide
Review: I have bought several xml books and this one has educated me, taught me and interested me the most. There's no doubt the Wrox technical books are a match to the Oreilley in terms of readability and thoroughness. This book is a little peculiar in that it is written by several people, each contributing a separate chapter. As an introduction, it probably wouldn't be too helpful (although that wouldn't be a problem for someone with a programming background). The strengths of the book (at least what I've read so far) is the discussion of sax v. dom, the section on business applications on edi (really interesting for me), and the great reference source in the back. Can you believe I have xeroxed the css list of command options in the back--amazingly useful? The variety of writers give a fresh perspective, which can be bad and good. With the exception of the first few chapters, which give a good overview, the rest of the chapters are a grabbag of subjects, including 4 case studies. These were very useful in learning xml. It also discussed WAP, which may or may not be useful, depending on how much enthusiasm there is for that standard. For variety's sake, I also bought, XML Unleashed, a bulky book with not as much organization, but just a lot of code (unlike the professional xml book, which really explained almost everything well). XML unleashed is helpful, because its topics really don't overlap with professional xml. It discusses SMIL, parsing xml with java xml tools on the market, using asp with xml and different subsets of xml (vml, and a variety of other specialized languages specific to one discipline. Unleashed is good because it contains discussions (albeit rather brief) of several different languages. Professional XML sticks to explanations and analysis, a lot of microsoft stuff (but not asp, and not too much stuff that linux lovers would want to reject the book. Finally I want to mention another book which I used as a first tutorial, Just XML by John Simpson. It's the best written of the three, although a little bizzare humor sometimes. It was written in late 1998 so some things may not be up-to-date (however simpson does a good job of emphasizing the things that weren't likely to change). This would be a good book for people starting, or if the book were available used. It would also be good when simpson publishes the second edition (later this year).
Rating:
Summary: Good reference book, not a learning one
Review: I've found this book very hard to understand as a first book on XML. If you know what XML is about but are looking for practical real-life exemples, look elsewhere. If you know XML and want to know everything about it's internal work and how to work with DTD, that would be your book. I've also ordered the Professional XML IE5 Programmer's Reference at the same time and this book gave me an overview of what I can do with XML on the Internet and THEN I had an idea of what to do of the Professional XML book. You have to ask you those questions : Do I need to know how to show XML with XSL, ASP, DHTML, HTML? If yes, look elsewhese first. Do I need an XML reference to know how to create XML files? If yes, look no further.
Rating:
Summary: Exactly what I needed, very timely...
Review: If you have started to play with XML but need to know where to go, this is the book for you. I rate this one as a "must have" book from Wrox just like the Professional ASP book... both are the top books on the market in their respective fields. I am using XML for content transformation and for Server to Server solutions so I was getting stuff done (in xml) but still had lots of questions. This book covers all the basic stuff and goes into some future technology as well but for the most part this book is for the working programmer who has to produce code quickly but couldn't figure everything out from site hopping.
Rating: 
Summary: only book to mention SOAP
Review: it has one chapter called Server to Server. It has an overview of XML-RPC and SOAP. From the books I've browsed in bookstores, this one is the first one that includes such material. Of course, such material is much more current on website locations, but still, to have it included in a published book in a timely matter was no small feat. There were a few spelling and editorial snafus, but given the speed to print such books, I can close and eye and still prefer to read a book with timely information early rathern than wait another three months for those few english grammar stylistic inconsistencies ironed-out.
Rating:
Summary: BORING BOOK
Review: It is easy to tell that this book was written by 12 different authors. The quality and writing style of each chapter varies widely. I thought the chapters on XPath, XSLT, DOM, SAX2, and SOAP were well written, but I was disappointed by some of the others. The chapter on XML Schemas was the worst, in my opinion. This is a very important subject, but it is given the same amount of space as much less important topics. As a result, the author of this chapter tries to cover too much in too little space and ends up being quite confusing. Examples are thrown out followed by only partial explanations, and the author forgets to do some basic things like showing a sample XML document to match the sample XML Schemas in the examples. If you need to understand XML Schemas, skip this chapter and go directly to "Professional XML Schemas," which is very well written book on the subject. This book is also too large and attempts to cover too many obscure topics. For example, it wastes a chapter on "XML Schema Alternatives" when it is clear that XML Schema is the approach that will be used by almost everyone going forward. Finally, my standard complaint about all WROX books is that the font they use is too small! I feel like I'm reading a telephone book. Give the readers a break by taking out some of the less important chapters and increasing the font size.
Rating:
Summary: A Mixed Bag
Review: It is easy to tell that this book was written by 12 different authors. The quality and writing style of each chapter varies widely. I thought the chapters on XPath, XSLT, DOM, SAX2, and SOAP were well written, but I was disappointed by some of the others. The chapter on XML Schemas was the worst, in my opinion. This is a very important subject, but it is given the same amount of space as much less important topics. As a result, the author of this chapter tries to cover too much in too little space and ends up being quite confusing. Examples are thrown out followed by only partial explanations, and the author forgets to do some basic things like showing a sample XML document to match the sample XML Schemas in the examples. If you need to understand XML Schemas, skip this chapter and go directly to "Professional XML Schemas," which is very well written book on the subject. This book is also too large and attempts to cover too many obscure topics. For example, it wastes a chapter on "XML Schema Alternatives" when it is clear that XML Schema is the approach that will be used by almost everyone going forward. Finally, my standard complaint about all WROX books is that the font they use is too small! I feel like I'm reading a telephone book. Give the readers a break by taking out some of the less important chapters and increasing the font size.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: Its's the best book for XML
Rating:
Summary: Attn: 2nd Edition!
Review: Many of the comments appearing on this book apply to the first edition, not the second. It was just released in May 2001 and many of these comments pre-date that. That being said, having owned the first edition I was a little hesitant to buy this as many second editions can be 80 to 90 percent rewrites of the first. I thought the first edition was a good book. This is a GREAT book! More clearly written, examples are more clear and concise, good coverage on many different technologies, not just Microsoft's. Expanded coverage on XLink, XPointer, and formatting objects to name just a few. Well done!
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