"XML Pocket Reference"
Paperback, Second printing, 96 pages
By Robert Eckstein with Michael Casabianca
Published by O’Reilly & Associates, Inc.
Copyright © April 2001
ISBN: 0-596-00133-9
Review written: October 22, 2001
By Donald W. Larson
Email: dwlarson@sd.znet.com
Web Site: http://www.sandiegodon.com/
Book reviews: http://sd.znet.com/~dwlarson/bookReviews.html
XML is becoming the lingua franca for exchanging information between computer systems. Many Java technologies implement XML as a way to establish properties. XML is a way to disseminate records from databases to XML-aware applications at-large. I found this second edition book to be most helpful and sits beside me as I work on my computer.
The book provides practical examples and then fully explains using those example's line-by-line in most cases. Overviews provide well-rounded understanding as the reader proceeds. The book’s index is extensive and most helpful.
Topics include the complete description of DTD’s, elements, entities, and attributes. It cleared up some confusion I had about default namespaces and should make it clear to anyone else too.
There are very good updates on XSL and XSLT. The definitions and examples are very clear. More than half of the book delves into the details of the newest XML technologies.
This edition better covers Xlink, XPointer, and XPaths topics, although as in the first edition,the author points out these are changing rapidly and may be out-of-date even at the time of printing. The book serves as a handy encyclopedia of terms and definitions concerning XML.
The only complaint I have is that this book is missing the index! It is very difficult to believe that a publisher of technical books can include an index in the first edition and omit it completely in the second edition. Who is proofing these books? I can recommend the www.wordco.com company, they can provide complete indexes as needed.
If you are learning about other technologies that incorporate XML, I recommend this book as a companion during your reading, learning, and understanding its uses.
Rating: 6 out of 10
This rating is my own personal value system and as such is very subjective. I think a rating of 5 means I would read finish reading a book. A rating of 10 would indicate I had trouble putting a book down and have no complaints at all about it.
With an index I would have raised the rating to over 9.0. Instead I had to downgrade it to 6. I look forward to a third edition that contains a complete index and the latest information.
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