The
XML Companion
ISBN:
0-201-34285-5
Author:
- Neil
Bradley. Mr. Bradley has worked with SGML
over 10 years and now works with XML. He has
designed editorial and deliver systems for publishers
in oil, aerospace, telecommunications, and patent
industries. He is a senior technical consultant
for TTCG (Thomson Technology Consulting Group).
Bradley wrote The Concise SGML Companion
as well.
Pages:
440
Intended
Audience:
The
XML Companion was written to serve the programmer,
analyst, or consultant that needs to understand
the details of XML and how to implement XML applications.
This title builds on the formula that Bradley
used in his previous title, The Concise SGML Companion.
Bradley presents an accessible, in-depth reference
to the XML standard as well as providing an extensive
glossary of terms and general tips and techniques
for using XML.
NOTE:
Although XML has similarities to both SGML and
HTML, this book assumes no prior knowledge of
either standard. It is designed to serve professionals
who are starting from ground zero. Therefore,
if you already are conversant in SGML or HTML,
you can feel free to skip that section. Also,
Bradley has included special "HTML Notes"
and "SGML Notes" that highlight the
differences between XML and the respective related
languages.
Summary:
This
book is divided into 4 sections. The first section
focuses on the XML Specification (Chapters
1 to 8). This section is intended to be read from
start to finish and will provide the reader with
a background for XML, a syntax overview, XML document
markup principles, and entity usage. This section
is rich with diagrams and examples to provide
a touchstone or the narrative. Although the text
is intended for those just starting with XML,
it is clearly targeted at a sophisticated, technical
audience. Each XML construct that is followed
by a superscript number is linked to a structure
chart in Chapter 18, Roadmaps. The structure
charts are provided as an aid to steering the
user through the XML standard and the draft XLL
standard. XML constructs are linked through the
same superscript number to its definition in the
Glossary as well.
The
XML specification chapters clearly provide a concise
introduction to XML. I particularly liked how
Bradley highlighted some of the details of the
standard that might escape many upon first reading.
For example, Bradley provides excellent examples
of the use of the new "empty" tag syntax;
showing that it can be used for elements that
are empty according to the DTD as well as for
elements that have no content in the instance.
Explanations of the rules of case sensitivity,
mixed content, reserved attributes, and significant
spaces were excellent as well. The "SGML
Notes" and "HTML Notes" helped
readers with an established background avoid the
trap of making false assumptions about XML based
on their prior knowledge.
Bradley
includes discussions of the concepts of two other
XML specifications that are currently W3C work
items. These are XLL (linking) and XSL (style
and transformation). Although the exact syntax
of XLL and XSL are likely to change before these
become W3C recommendations, the basic concepts
and principles will likely survive. These chapters
give readers valuable insights into the "big
picture."
Working
with XML (Chapters 9 to 12) provides readers
with valuable tips and techniques. The section
provides the basics in developing software to
read and write XML. Discussions of API's and the
Document Object Model (DOM) are found in here.
This section also provides background into advanced
XML topics such as architectural forms, modeling
metadata, and the powerful concept of namespaces.
These chapters are highly technical, clearly designed
for programmers.
Related
Standards (Chapters 13 to 16) provides readers
with information about additional standards that
may be required as an XML application is developed.
A detailed discussion of character sets helps
the reader sort out ASCII, extended ASCII, and
unicode. In this section the versions of HTML
are reviewed and SGML is discussed. Again, Bradley
focuses on the technical details which separate
XML from these related standards. Finally a concise
discussion of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is
presented. CSS will soon be recognized by major
browsers to provide style rendering of XML-coded
data. And used with XSL, CSS will provide even
more powerful style application capabilities.
Reference
Material (Chapters 17-18 and Glossary) provides
many reference tables, charts, and definitions.
This section provides details that programmers
will need on an ongoing basis. Superscript numbering
scheme provides links from the reference section
back to discussions and explanations earlier in
the text.
I
found the XML Companion to be just that.
It provides an excellent, but concise, introduction
to XML. It provides more technical discussions
for those that will be writing XML processors.
I particularly like the way Neil Bradley points
out details of the standard that remains mysterious
to many, the way that he relates XML to prior
knowledge of other standards, and the way he provides
a complete picture through numerous diagrams,
examples, and explanations of related standards.
This book is a must for your XML library!
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