Average overall
This book was difficult for me to rate. While it had some very strong qualities, it was weak in other areas. The book surpassed many others in the following respects.1) Content - This book is one of the most advanced XML books I have ever seen. The author promotes the use of XML/XSLT as a programming language. The book's examples demonstrate how XML can be used to create platform/language independent applications.
2) Scope - The book is complete in its coverage of XML. The topics covered include; The DOM, the MSXML parser, XML, XSLT, XPATH, XML schema, XML Programming with parameters.
3) Length - The book is very concise and doesn't redundantly elaborate the obvious.
The book needs improvement in the following areas.
1) Difficult to understand - The book would introduce a new topic in a single page and then proceed to advanced examples. This book is for experts only. Unless you develop XML applications on a regular basis, this book will probably be extremely confusing.
2) Out of date - Although this book was only published a little more than a year ago, it is already out of date. The standards were finalized in 2001 and most XML books will probably be dated. The information covering the schema is slightly out of date and the MSXML parser information is extremely dated.
3) Inconsistency - The examples were not written to one standard. The Schemas and MSXML code examples are extremely varied and alternate between chapters. Unfortunately, the standards were fluid during the writing of this book.
The overall rating will vary depending on the reader. Advanced readers will probably view this book as having four stars, while beginners will see it as a two star book. Given the balance between pros and cons, I give this book three stars.
Just what you need.
This book is the definitive source for XML (and related technologies) for the vb programmer.
The only drawback are the typos in the listings on papers.
The author has profund knowledge of the things he's talking about, and he knows how to transmit them.
Best book for those seeking learning in easy simple examples
This is conceptually a very well done book. I like smallstand-alone code examples that can be entered into VB (or copied fromthe accompaning CD) and then run without having to code up and thenunderstand a large working program example. Unfortunately, as a ...the code samples are fraught with typo's and what appear to be codingerrors that cause VB 6 to choke. Examples are: Using CreateObject toinstantiate an instance of the DOMDocument requires that a variable oftype Object be used but the exmamples in the book use theDOMDocument. VB 6 doesn't like that. Also the error handling checksfor values > 0 but the ParseError returns large negative numbers soa greater than 0 test doesn't trap the error. as for typos: avar isnamed to be "errormsg" but the code example tries to set avar named "ErrorMsg" which of course doesn't work. I findthis ... editing on the behalf of the author and/or the publisher fora .... The problems are all easy to find and correct unless you're areal beginner to VB but annoying just the same. I still recommend thebook for its content ignoring the typos and language syntax bugs asmere inconveniences. For the VB 6 developer, I think this the bestbook going. Far better than what WROX provides i.e. Professional VB 6XML. If you can wade thru the typo's, syntax problems. As an aside, Iwent to the... site for this book and checked the errata hoping tofind a a downloadable file with corrected code examples.. It says noerrors have been identified with this book so I guess I will submit afew. ....
Great content, poor editing
I've always enjoyed Kurt Cagle's writing, from MSDN to vbxml.com, and this book was no exception. However, I was disappointed with the number of typos, some of which caused some confusion. For example, the text may read, "See Listing 3.9 for sample code using the element() property," but Listing 3.9 doesn't use the element() property anywhere! Overall, I like the book, and I'm glad I bought it. You'll definitely learn from it. I just hope they come out with a revision that fixes all the typos.
A great Handbook
The other day I came across "Enhancing XSL" article on MSDN written by the same author. The author did a great job. The article had good content and flow, and was easy to read. That encouraged me to buy his book. I am equally impressed with his book. It covers quite a bit of XML technology. It has good flow and is easy to read. It has plenty of examples. Thank God, it does not give any coverage to DTDs, like quite a few other XML books in the market. It is pretty much up to date with the XML specs when it comes to XPath, XSL, and Microsoft's XML Parsers. It gives good comparison of the differences in some recent versions of the MSXML. Now the reason I gave four stars is due to the lack of coverage for (a) SAX, and (b) W3C XML Schema.
