Rating: 
Summary: (an aside for XSL users and a resource)
Review: >>Good Intro to XML, >>But don't buy if your interested in XSL. XSL is still a draft standard, and Microsoft's implementation is not strictly compliant with the more recent releases of the draft. Writing usable XSL is a nontrivial task (eg. for a large website dynamically generated from streams of XML data). The author of this book maintains an XML website (updates it daily, even) called Cafe con Leche. http://metalab.unc.edu/xml/ As for the book, I flipped through it and put it back on the shelf -- XML is still embryonic and seems most usable for EDI, information management, and forcing office software goliaths to use (naively) parseable file formats. XML for the web is unlikely to be useful until better client-side XSL processing can be implemented. Since the book wasn't bad, just ordinary, I gave it the average (4 stars). I had no opinion on it.
Rating:
Summary: (an aside for XSL users and a resource)
Review: >>Good Intro to XML, >>But don't buy if your interested in XSL. XSL is still a draft standard, and Microsoft's implementation is not strictly compliant with the more recent releases of the draft. Writing usable XSL is a nontrivial task (eg. for a large website dynamically generated from streams of XML data). The author of this book maintains an XML website (updates it daily, even) called Cafe con Leche. http://metalab.unc.edu/xml/ As for the book, I flipped through it and put it back on the shelf -- XML is still embryonic and seems most usable for EDI, information management, and forcing office software goliaths to use (naively) parseable file formats. XML for the web is unlikely to be useful until better client-side XSL processing can be implemented. Since the book wasn't bad, just ordinary, I gave it the average (4 stars). I had no opinion on it.
Rating:
Summary: Still the best available...
Review: ...if you are interested in a concise overview of the W3C open-standard XML technology, as opposed to a getting yet another Microsoft sales pitch (a la Wrox). Every book on every Internet technology gets outdated fast. The book is outdated. That being said, I found the book clear, fast, and easy to understand. The author went to extensive pains to point out how quickly things were shifting in XML. His examples were well thought out, logical, and contained few (if any) obvious errata. Furthermore, he took the trouble to point out the cases where the commercial toolage failed to correctly implement the W3C standard. Readers who can deal with these caveats will find it a good way to come up to speed in a vendor-neutral manner. I was aware that the book was obsolete when I bought it. But I reviewed the alternatives carefully before I bought and decided that it was the best of the lot. I am happy with my purchase now that it's about 2/3 read. (The O'Reilly version isn't due out until December, or I would have been tempted to buy that instead. I may still.) I hope that Mr. Harold will update the examples as needed, that he will continue to stick exclusively to the W3C standard, that he will demonstrate using all the available tools (including the emerging open-source tools), and will point out cases where the commercial and open-source tools fail to comply with the W3C standard.
Rating: 
Summary: A complete, understandable guide for XML development
Review: After reading several dismal XML books (including The XML Handbook), XML by Elliotte Harold is by far the most concise and thorough study of XML I have read to date. This book will take a reader from XML fundamentals to developing XML applications. The topics covered in depth are XML, XSL, and DTDs. The book covers the topic of XML and related technologies in a clear and concise manner. Focusing on actual relevant examples, Harold demonstrates how XML is used and how to begin thinking in an XML perpective. The emphasis on actual usage and thinking in XML is the primary advantage of this book. The Quick Reference and Appendices alone are well worth the cost of the book. Rarely do I see a text where I read the 300 or so pages of text and am then able to immediately understand everything in the Quick Reference. This is a testament to Harold's lucid teaching style. Good description, useful applications, clear explanations, reinteration of critical points, and good summarizations are the halmarks of this excellent work.
Rating: 
Summary: Out-dated
Review: Author makes a good point from the start. He notes that since the web public will take time to convert to XML-ready browsers, all works should be converted to HTML until technologies play a catch-up. Author's method for this HTML conversion is done through a Microsoft-DOS based utility called "MSXSL." Well, Guess what? Microsoft has taken this tool off the market, probably to promote it's Internet Explorer 5.0 browser which has built-in XML parser. But without the "MSXSL" examples starting from chapter 2 are not possible. It's a pity, since his writing on XML are well written. But it's just too hard to overcome the frustration of not being able apply your knowledge. I will return this book and use the money to buy a book with examples of IE5 - the 'bleeding' edge of technology.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent intro to XML, no programming knowledge necessary
Review: Harold does an excellent job, assuming only a minimal knowledge of HTML and no programming background. This book is an excellent reference, but lacking in discussion of new directions in XML, particularly namespaces.
Rating:
Summary: html is dead, long live html
Review: I couldn't make much sense of XML until I read this book. It's well-written and easy to follow. Unfortunately the subject matter changes so quickly that the chapter on XSL is already woefully out of date and is based on a W3C working draft (WD) of early 1998. It bears little resemblance to the current WD or the XSL implemention in IE5. However its still one of the best and most current texts available.
Rating:
Summary: Good intro to XML, not so hot on XSL
Review: I couldn't make much sense of XML until I read this book. It's well-written and easy to follow. Unfortunately the subject matter changes so quickly that the chapter on XSL is already woefully out of date and is based on a W3C working draft (WD) of early 1998. It bears little resemblance to the current WD or the XSL implemention in IE5. However its still one of the best and most current texts available.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book for XML Programmers
Review: I recommend this book for everyone. There is clarity in the way it deals with fundamentals and at the same time gives you depth. I do agree that XSL has changed, but this sure is worth adding to your library
Rating:
Summary: Best XML book I've encountered so far!
Review: I saw that other people made some comments about the XSL not being mentioned all too often in this book. That's true. But this book goes way beyond XSL and that is important, because XML is more than converting XML into HTML. I can recommend this book to everybody who wants to understand XML quickly. This book guides you from the basics to advanced topics such as the DTD in a clear and straightforward manner.
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