Very Disappointing
I've read scores of computer books, including quite a few from the "Teach Yourself..." series, and can honestly say this is one of the most poorly written books of them all. I'm six chapters in and can't say I've learned anything more than what I've already gleaned from other books' brief explanations of the subject. A great deal of the book is occupied by what can only be described as "filler" examples, which are both redundant and useless at the same time.
I shall attempt to find an alternate piece of work, forthwith.
This is not the book for someone seeking to learn XML.
Great book
A great book, very thorough. Hits all the XML topics. I was very pleased.
Good, solid book
Starting off, I was a bit skeptical about reading this book, as I have read a previous title by Steve Holzner on JavaScript, and was dissapointed to say the least. This book, on the other hand, is a well balanced title spread out over 21 days. It contains enough material without being oversaturated with information in any one day (or chapter), as well as giving the reader enough to absorb during the course of reading and after. This technical book does is not about injecting humor after every sentence, but about describing aspects relating to the subject or language of which the writing is about - which this book does well. I feel that the information provided in this book is straight forward and systematic to follow. Unlike certain titles, in particular certain Dummies title's (not all), I was and am not distracted by useless material and often dry humor from this title, but useful information that I need in order to make XML pages, as well as showing other aspects that support/improve upon XML's capabilities (JavaScript, Flavors of ML, .NET, etc.) without confusing the reader. The examples are easy to follow, and are broken down in an easy-to-follow manner. If you want an interesting technical book geared towards delivering knowledge about XML and it's purpose, I would recommend this book - if you want an exciting book, get an action title. Well done SAM and Mr. Holzer.
Horribly dense for beginners.
XML does not exactly make for exciting reading. It's about as dry as the Mojave Desert. But I did manage to struggle thru the first four chapters of this book. Then I gave up. This book should be retitled Teach Yourself XML in 210 Days, not 21.
The author throws a lot of code at you before you even have a grasp of what XML is all about. And the code is mostly C.I.P.U. (clear if previously understood) just like a lot of other dense programming books out there. Some authors seem to think that if you just read thru their code everything will become perfectly obvious. Not! (Eggheaded mathematicians are wont to do the same, which is why there are so few who know how to teach math.)
At then end of the fourth chapter I still had absolutely no idea what XML was good for and whether it was worth the long learning curve or not. I'm sure XML must be good for something! But if a book can't tell me within four chapters what its subject is useful for then it's not a book I can recommend. In the meantime, I will continue to search for a better XML primer, one that can at least clue me in on what the buzz is all about.
what a let down...
I am a fan of the Teach Yourself series and typically enjoy and learn from these books. This one is the exception to the rule. The book, in my opinion, is poorly written. The examples are sometimes not useful and the code snippets are mediocre at best. Many are just like the tired, over-used stuff found on plenty of websites. And the websites are a lot cheaper (hint hint). Sorry, I wish I could balance this with something positive, but I was really disappointed.
(5 reviews)
