XML Pocket Reference: Extensible Markup Language

by Michael J. Fitzgerald and Simon St. Laurent

Book Overview

XML, the Extensible Markup Language, is everywhere: the syntax of choice for newly designed document formats across almost all computer applications. Now used daily by developers, XML is living up to its reputation as one of the most important developments in document interchange in the history of computing.

A perennial bestseller, the handy XML Pocket Reference from O'Reilly has been revised once again to give you quick access to the latest...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0596100507
• ISBN13: 9780596100506
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Length: 175 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.3" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

XML pocket reference

The book was in A+ condition, but the shipping was slow, no wonder though, since it was sendt to Norway from New Zealand. The book was thoroughly packed. The seller is highly recommended. The book itself seems to just what i was looking for, alot of references :)

Provides exactly what it promises

I bought this guide because I needed a quick lookup for XML schema elements (something you'd think would be readily available online, but isn't - at least not in a usable form). The bulk of the book (70 of its 162 pages - about half) is dedicated to XSD, so I was very happy with what I got. The first 30 pages cover XML itself (all the nitpicking details like predefined entities, what characters are allowed in attribute names, etc). The next 17 pages cover DTD (which you may occasionally still need to know, even these days). The next 70 cover XML Schema, and the book finishes up with an additional 43 pages on Relax-NG and Schematron (two competing, and not very common, schema definition formats). I agree with other reviewers that the book would have been complete without the Relax-NG and Schematron coverage, but it would have just been 43 pages shorter if that was the case - there's really not much else they could have said about XML, DTD and XSD and still have been a concise "pocket reference". This book is actually pretty thick for an O'Reilly pocket reference - I have four other pocket guides on my bookshelf right now, and the other three have 120, 124 and 66 pages each. By that standard, I figure the coverage of Relax-NG and Schematron were just a "buy one get one free" type of add-on, especially since this book costs the same as all the other pocket reference books. This book is a perfect reference for somebody who needs a quick, handy reference to XML schema and the occasional XML rule.

Another view

I am one of the coauthors of this book. I feel compelled to write a review in support of my friend and coauthor, Simon St. Laurent, who wrote the section on XML Schema. Of the 160 pages of text in XML Pocket Reference, Third Edition, 71 pages are dedicated to XML Schema. That's 44 percent of the book. Of the 71 pages, 16 pages cover examples of XML Schema. DTDs are covered in 15 pages, RELAX NG in 32, and Schematron in 10 (57 pages total). XML Schema receives the most extensive treatment of any of the topics covered, and within the limitations of the size of the book, Simon did an excellent job. XSLT and XPath were not included in this book because a new, separate volume has been dedicated to those topics-XSLT 1.0 Pocket Reference, by Evan Lenz, which also appeared in August 2005. As for the production rules, they were included for programmers and others who need grammars. The productions, which come from the XML spec, are a means for understanding XML syntax precisely, and it would have been unwise, in my view, to omit them.

Lots about the schema

The majority of the new material in this book is on different schema specifications. Schema, Relax NG and Schematron are covered. A handy book to have around when you are hacking XML. The online free documentation is not as handy as the content as it's organized in this book.