Rating: 
Summary: Not "For Dummies"
Review: This is the first "For Dummies" book I ever bought, and I was not impressed. I thought it glossed over XML fundamentals. It introduced concepts in examples without discussing them first (or even saying "there's some new stuff in here--we'll get to it in a few pages"). Also, it strongly recommended devoting 1-2 days to digesting the formal spec, written in EBNF notation--hardly a "Dummies" activity.I enjoyed Simon St. Laurent's "XML Primer" much more.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Dummy! Bad
Review: This is the first time I've been thorughly disappointed by a "Dummies" book. The greatest value I got from the book was the explanation of Cascading Style Sheets. I saw no examples of how css or xsl affected the appearance of the xml document. In fact I saw no XML documents (using an xml extention) on the CD. I don't think the author and his cohart in crime (and this was a serious crime based on what I paid verus what I got out of it) really did a serious analysis of the "Dummies" book audience. When I buy a "Dummies" book I expect to get a simplified version of an explanation. I got more out of the W3C documents he pointed out. I also expect a little time be spent on exercises that let me create a document or two while guided by instructions in the book. This wasn't the case. I suggest to anyone thinking they might want to buy this book; don't. Find another source of information written at the "Dummies" level. You'll be happier than I am.
Rating:
Summary: Buy the 3rd Edition!
Review: Unfortunutely I purchased this book without scanning further for the other volumes of this book. Great book but too old as it includes no information about Schemas or Web Services. However, the same book title, but the 3rd Edition is worth buying.
Rating: 
Summary: You've got to start somewhere...
Review: When I forgot (momentary amnesia) some basic XML syntax that I couldn't quickly find an answer to on the web, I hauled out my XML for dummies book and sure enough, I found the explanation I was looking for, spelled out in painstaking, slow detail. I used this book for a few days to get up and running in XML, and it does a fairly decent job of explaining XML & DTD's in a very basic way.
Rating: 
Summary: One bad apple in a barrel of winners!
Review: While most of the Dummies series has been very good when it comes to jump starting someone, this clearly is the low point. The same concepts were used too many times and the CD was missing some of the examples and chapers that should have been included. Nice section on CSS but then the book dropped it and took off without showing how they were used with XML. CSS section was one missing from the CD. This is one to skip and find one that does not use the same example over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: One bad apple in a barrel of winners!
Review: While most of the Dummies series has been very good when it comes to jump starting someone, this clearly is the low point. The same concepts were used too many times and the CD was missing some of the examples and chapers that should have been included. Nice section on CSS but then the book dropped it and took off without showing how they were used with XML. CSS section was one missing from the CD. This is one to skip and find one that does not use the same example over and over again.
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