Clear and useful
XML Schema can be really confusing but this book has made it much more clear to me. In particular, I muddled through my project never really understanding things like namespaces and elementFormDefault and weirdnesses like why complex types can have simple content, until I decided to sit down and read this book. Now I feel like I've got a handle on how these things work, plus it made me realize that XML Schema has a lot more features I didn't even know about. The chapter on extensibility was a bonus because it compared and contrasted some of these advanced features and gave me a better idea when to use them. The index is good, too - which makes it easy to use as a reference.
Great Reference Book
This book was very helpful in getting me up to speed with XML Schema. It was written well and I have provided the added detail I needed to go above and beyond up at work. Priscilla's Walmsley's extensive experience is conveyed well in the book and has proven to be a great resource.
A Useful companion to the official standard
Imagine yourself sitting in front of the formal w3c standard(s) and trying to read it cover to cover...
I tried that and it is very hard, boring, and very unproductive.
Now, try to read it with this book as a companion -- you will find yourself understanding everything on the spot.
There are a lot of useful examples and explanations which are (in my opinion) missing from the standard's text. This is what makes this book so useful.
Also, the organization of the book makes it very easy to locate information you need and to use it as a reference book.
Trying to understand the fine details of the XML Schema standard and the capabilities of XML Schema? Trying to implement an XML parser or an XML validator? If so -- you will probably appreciate this book and will probably use it a lot!
Even now, several years later, I sill find it useful and revealing.
My Schema Reference Book
Walmsley's book is the one I go to as the reference for W3C Schema. It is clear and very accurate and reliable. I find the examples relevant and helpful.
I had to chuckle at a previous review that couldn't understand why something was found in multiple places. Well perhaps it is used in several places. I would be happy that the index was thorough. Schema is a somewhat complicated language but Walmsley provides transparency and order.
I recommend this book to my clients and in classes I teach on XML and Schema regulalrly.
Awful as reference
Since all other reviews are very positive, I'm here to offer a different opinion.
I've had this book for over a year now, and I barely use it. Each time I attempt to find something useful in it, the information is scattered over the entire book making it extremely difficult to understand.
For example, right now I'm looking up the "ref" attribute, and according to the index, it appears on 7 different locations throughout the book, each portion shorter than 1 page. Also, I have seen many tables scattered throughout with exact same information, or one or two differing field values, making it very confusing to understand which table is doing what.
And at over 500 pages long, there is a large amount of filler information in this book.
Is this book "definitive"? It looks like it is. Is this book usable? Absolutely not. This is one of the worst investments I've made in computer books.
And there is a place about strings in the book where it differs from the official W3C specs.
(32 reviews)
