Not a good introduction
I am one of those who wish to pick up a book and be able to work with the technology in matter of hours, and this book is not the right one for it.
The BEST book on XML related technologies ... PERIOD!
This is the best book I have ever read on XML related technologies. If you own just ONE book that wonderfully teaches this in's and out's of XSL as it relates to XML infrastructures, this is the book you absolutely MUST buy!
Very helpful, and very clear.
This books presents XSL in nice bite-sized chapters that are clear, to-the-point, and illustrated with good examples.
I am an experienced and (I think) pretty good procedural programmer, and I find XSL to be a challenge. I've looked at tutorials on the web and at other XSL books. I recommend this book because it reads well, covers the territory, and leaves you with a clear understanding of what XSL can do for you.
Good, but not great
A reasonable work on XSL, but certainly not the best. This book is neither fully a reference or an introduction. On the positive side the book provides a terse and intelligent introduction to the topic. On the negative side the explanation of a complex topic like XPath not covered in as much depth as it probably should be, and there are some extraneous sections on HTML and CSS which are better covered in other works. On the whole a good book, but not a great book. If you are interested in XSL you should try Michael Kay's XSLT Programmers Reference and Sal Mangano's XSLT Cookbook.
a lot of knowledge in a simple and few words
I am working on my IBM XML exam and had to study "Professional XML" and other books. I found out there are two types of computer books
1) one type can tell you the same things in few pages(200-300 pages) and (of course in cheap price) without wasting your time and money.
2)second type will tell you the same things in 800-900 pages with price upto 60$ and size that will make you afraid even to pick up the book.(mostly "Professional series")
this book is from the first category. the author has done an excellent job to simply the understanding of how XSL,XSLT and XSL:FO works. what are different ways to do the same thing, whats the adv/dis to do them.
I got a chance to borrow it from my public library.
you may not find solid examples(only fragments) but believe me you wont miss the concept what the author is trying to teach at that point(he will use picture, fragment or whatever).
so here is the summary, if you want to save your time and money, pick this book.
