Not a complimentary book to E-business and E-commerce
I bought this text thinking it would compliment the E-business and E-commerce How to Program text (it was recommended that way). However, it is really just a reconstituted version of the other text, which also falls short of its advertised use. Don't waste your money!
Solid XML Book
I read some of the other reviewer's comments on the book and I agree with some and disagree with others. In comparison to other popular XML books it's not perfect but it's solid. If you are like me, a beginning XML programmer then you need to learn XML hands on and the book gives just that. Giving you examples and problems to apply what you just read is the best way to learn and thats what this book does. I read the "XML by Example" by Marchal and although that was a solid book also, it doesnt give you the material or examples for YOU to practice. Marchal doesnt offer the code samples for download either. One reviewer said that in order to complete this book's self review exercises you have to use outside sources. This is true but think about it...what better way to learn than by being challenged?
I also read some of Erik T. Wray's (O'reilly series) XML book. That book is the better of all 3 books in my opinion but again it doesnt offer you that hands on material that I need. Love or hate the Deitel's books, the bottom line is that until these other authors challenge the enthusiast on whatever topic they are writing about people will always turn to these books. Yes the line by line styles are annoying but you know exactly what functions, (tags in this case) the author is referencing. Theory is great but the only way you will truly know any language you learn is by doing it! Last but not least I DO NOT WORK FOR THE COMPANY!!!!!!
Not suitable for self-teaching, barely good for classroom
I recently took an XML class at my university, and Deitel's "XML How to Program" was our textbook.I have to say, it's one of my least-favorite XML books--nay, one of my least-favorite *computer* books overall.
Sure, it's thick and heavy, something many geeks like in a book (myself included). But within the covers are sometimes rambling discussions about a particular topic that leave you still wondering what you were supposed to learn, while other sections get cut short just when things are getting interesting.
My biggest beef: You won't be able to complete some of the exercises without the use of outside resources. Of course, multiple sources are great for any project, but you should certainly be able to answer a book's exercises with just that book! (Specifically, one exercise was within the XSLT chapter, and deals with a number-type element.)
When I was assigned to write an essay on a topic, XML Topic Maps, I first consulted the book. Only a couple of paragraphs as I recall. RDF, an up-and-coming XML technology, gets nary a page.
Mind you, there is a bit of good in the book, mainly with the introductory material. It's a bit Java-centric, but that's to be expected, and there is a decent Java primer in the back of the book. I also appreciate the code samples on both the CD-ROM and Deitel's Web site.
I wanted to like the book, but I found it useless for most of the projects I was working on. In a different class, we used Marchal's "XML by Example, 2/e", and I vastly prefer that book over this one. Especially with the price of the Deitel book, I can't recommend this one to anyone.
Very clear, good learning book - not perfect though.
I much enjoyed this book as the presentation of complex topics is made very clear. I feel that this book helped me to understand several topics that I never fully understood before (for instance XLink).Generally the approach in this book is to give a clear and concise coverage of each important topics. This is the best approach to learn but reader should be aware that the coverage is not exhaustive enough for the book to serve as reference. In fact I would have prefered that the author added complete reference on several topics (XML DOM, XPath, XSLT, XSLFO) instead of the 'bonus programming chapter'.
The book is catered for programmers. As a result the table of content will satisfy programmers (unlike many beginning XML books it gives ample coverage of XML APIs) but examples are sometimes non-trivial and written in high-level programming languages. Although generally, it must be said that effort has been made to use various programming languages (i.e. Perl, Java, ASP, etc) so that everybody should find some useful examples.
I would have prefered additional coverage of XML services, SOAP, etc. Also, I found that several chapters (Programming java, programming Perl, etc.), while not useless, were clearly off topic and added to fill-in pages. Only other criticism is that the book is really quite expensive. However, it is one of the best book to LEARN xml (even though you may require additional reference to use it).
One last thing: do not buy the CD ROM training kit of the book. The CD ROM included is very disappointing.
Edit: I wrote this review a while back. Since then, I revisited the book and I must say that it does appear dated. In particular the coverage of schema (an important topic) fails to suitably cover the W3C Schema recommendation and focusses mostly on Microsoft's version of schema which are now hardly used. For this reason, I would recommend another book instead (for instance, Beginning XML from Wrox) until the publisher comes with an updated edition.
GET THIS BOOK! Wonderful format, etc
This book was written in easily understood jargon that helped take the mystery out of XML programming for me. Additionally, the links to actual working code allowed me the opportunity to watch it work. The self review and tests at the end of each chapter really ensures that you get everything out of the chapter that you need to continue on. Loved it. You will, too.
(17 reviews)
