XML Programming: Web Applications and Web Services with JSP and ASP review

You may be unfamiliar with Apress, but this 'for professionals, by professionals' publisher has introduced more than 50 high-quality programming references since it was founded in 1998.

XML Programming has a clean design that's heavy on text content. However, the use of white space makes it easier to read than most other references. The second thing you notice is that there is no attached CD. Instead, all source code is available online, which is no bad thing.

It's also a substantial reference, and the quality of the information and the clarity with which it's conveyed is superb. The content is practical as well as timely, providing a much-needed introduction to the family of XML technologies, although with an admitted slant towards ASP- and JSP-based XML solutions.

The book is written from a language-independent perspective, so most developers will benefit, regardless of their preferred language. The code presentations are plentiful as well as accurate (an errata is available online), with substantial examples in Java, Virtual Basic and VBScript. If you need to become proficient in XML technologies for large-scale, real-world use, the structure of the book will suit you well.

The first handful of chapters cover the foundations of XML, but unusually XLink, XPointer and elements of XSLT are also introduced early on to make the examples interesting and useful.

The book then takes you into XML processing with SAX, DOM and XSLT, progressing from simple to advanced examples. One chapter centres on a real-world development exercise embracing numerous XML technologies to create an information repository. This is well executed, showing how XML data can live inside a relational database. Newer validation techniques such as RELAX NG and XML Schema are discussed, and at the end you're shown how to convert a software module into a Web Service, generate a WDSL description from code and use WSDL to generate skeletons and stubs for distributed language-independent apps.

Author: Davey Winder