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Rating: 
Summary: Good on XML, short on SQL
Review: I have mixed feelings about this book.On the one hand, it is easy to read, with a strong sense of humour throughout and a crisp layout. Yet, on the other, it falls short, I believe, of its presumed goal of being a practical and invaluable reference for Web developers wanting to enhance sites with back-end databases. The book kicks off with a detailed overview and explanation of XML, moving on through discussions of project management, data modelling, XML design, XML stylesheets, and developing database schemas. These chapters are easily accessible, largely due to the author's humour. Yet, two concluding chapters are where, I feel, the book falls down - integrating XML with SQL Server 2000, and integrating XML with Java. The depth of these chapters is visibly lacking, especially when contrasted to the earlier coverage of just what XML is. Indeed, these chapters weigh in at 29 and 19 pages respectively - rather puny when one considers that the title of the book is "XML and SQL". I wouldn't want to make any unfair assumptions, but it seems to me the author is far more of an "XML guy" than, say, a "database guy" or a "programming guy". Indeed, the back cover credits say he is active on the Advisory Committee of the W3C, and it is clear from the text that he is knowledgeable about XML down to the fine detail of its mandated implementation. However, there is nothing to give confidence that he is equally a master of SQL and the book is definitely unbalanced in its coverage. Ultimately, I believe "XML and SQL" holds value as a good-humoured guide to XML and its implementation. It would even serve well as an academic textbook, if supplemented with practical exercises. Unfortunately, though, I do not believe it serves professional programmers well.
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