[Dev] XML Learning

[Tom Bryan]

On Friday 12 July 2002 01:58 am, Michael Mueller wrote:
> I am going shopping for XML/SGML books.  Any comments on what is good out
> there?

I really liked _Professional_XML_ by WROX.  I don't know whether they've 
updated since the copy I had (which was before the XML Schema draft became an 
official recommendation...over a year ago).  I thought that it was pitched at 
about the right level for an experienced programmer looking for a general 
introduction to using XML for data exchange, but it was a bit weak in XML 
Schema.  

Many of the other books I looked at seemed to be pitched toward those moving 
from HTML to XML.  I had to stop reading one of those when it spent a page or 
two explaining how to edit a text document (with MS Notepad--blech) and the 
difference between text and something like a word document.  

If you have specific needs, then you might want to outline those.  Saying that 
you want to get an XML book is a bit like saying that you're getting a 
network book.  You mean setting up an IP network or using CORBA with IIOP?  
There's a big difference.  Same thing with XML.  Are you looking for stuff 
about writing and working with XML documents coded to a pre-existing DTD/XML 
Schema?  Are you looking for stuff about writing your own DTD/XML Schema?  
Are your XML documents more liked tagged docuements (user manuals) or coded 
data (SOAP)?  Are you interested in something very specific?  XSLT?  XML RPC?  
DocBook?  There are also guides that lean specifically to one language, such 
as O'Reilly's _Java_and_XML_.

---Tom