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Professional XML, 2nd Edition (Programmer to Programmer) Review by kalyson
Very informative and complete
I am astounded at the vicious, even obscene references to this book! One reviewer was using the book (according to him, "defacing the book") in a class, so this may account for the resentment towards the work and its authors. (It is interesting to see that when I reported the obscene reviews to Amazon, they removed them almost immediately. Impressive!)
In any case, the book is covering a subject that is huge and complex. Furthermore, the specifications for the XML technologies are not static. So it is quite a task to try to cover all of this material in one book. The authors have done a good job of it -- better than most, to be sure. I would say that it would be best to wait to get the third edition that is coming out since this one is a bit dated, but if a reference is required now it is still a very good one to have.
There are many confusing things that are inherent in XML. One simple example is the difference between "Document Type Declarations" and "Document Type Definitions" (DTD's). The authors go out of their way to point out that this confusing issue exists and to help you avoid mixing up the two concepts. We have to face the fact that the XML Specs are tedious, confusing and difficult to learn at times, and should not take our frustration with the subject out on this book! Childish comments like, "This book is boring", etc., are not helpful. LEARNING XML IS BORING! Grow up and get over it! ("Here we are now, entertain us..." Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana 1991)
IBM listed this book as the reference for their XML Certification (141) exam for a reason. I'm using it and finding it to be a very complete, helpful learning tool.
(One flaw I do notice in the book is that it has a definite MicroSoft slant. This leads to occasional errors like this one:
or using type="text/xsl". The type should equal "application/xml". The MicroSoft MIME types are not and WILL NOT be registered with the IANA.)