With its two high-profile authors, this XML guide promises to be the most authoritative on the market. Charles Goldfarb invented SGML, the massive and immensely powerful mark-up language on which both HTML and XML are based. Paul Prescod is a top XML consulting engineer and a member of the World Wide Web Consortium XML team.

Unlike too many high-end authorities, Goldfarb and Prescod communicate with nonexperts in a friendly, engaging style, making their book well suited to mark-up language beginners. They describe what a mark-up language is, what XML is, how it works, and its advantages to users of the World Wide Web.

In the second section, the authors focus on the specific benefits of XML, showing both by discussion and by example how XML can make all types of electronic business easier and more efficient. Part 3 gets more specific still, with case studies of Hitachi, the Washington Post, the city of Providence, and others who are already putting XML to work online. The fourth section discusses some of the major tools you can use to work with XML, while part 5 deals with the nuts and bolts of XML technology.

There's plenty of good sense and humor along the way to make the information-rich pages lively. Included is a CD-ROM with more than 55 pieces of free XML software, as well as other information and software resources. --Elizabeth Lewis

From Library Journal
Goldfarb's book is broken down into five parts: an extensive 60-page introduction to XML, covering what it is and where it is going; examples of what you can do with XML, such as online auction, comparison shopping, and natural-language translation; case studies of commercial development with XML, including projects by Hitachi and the Washington Post; a discussion of specialized tools for working with XML; and, finally, a review of the technology of XMLAsyntax, document type definition, and advanced features. This is the most comprehensive book in the series.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Book News, Inc.
A book/CD-ROM offering illustrated walk-throughs of XML tools and explaining details of the XML language and related technologies. Discusses the differences between XML and HTML, and presents seven cases of corporations using XML. The accompanying CD-ROM contains free XML software, trialware, and printable copies of XML standards. Book News, Inc.®, Portland, OR

Book Info
Presents the definitive XML resource: applications, products, and technologies. Designed to help you master the details of the XML language and related technologies from reader-friendly, in-depth presentations on XML, XSL, SXLT, XLink, XPath, schemas, namespaces, topic maps, and extended linking. Softcover. CD-ROM included.

FROM OUR EDITORS

"This book is an excellent starting point where you can learn and experiment with XMI. As the inventor of SGML, Dr. Charles F. Goldfarb is one of the most respected authorities on structured information. Charles and I share a common vision: that the most valuable asset for the user or for a corporation, namely the data, can be openly represented in a simple, flexible, and humanreadable form. This vision can now he realized through XML."
--From the Foreword by lean Paoli, Microsoft XML architect arid co-editor :Nor of the CC XML specification

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The XML Handbook is the definitive entry point to XML for Web professionals-content developers, managers, and programmers-but you needn't be a programmer to read it. Although XML, like HTML, is derived from SGML (which was invented by one of the authors), XML has so many more uses than HTML that an XML book must be much more than a markup tutorial.

There are three major divisions: A 64-page non-technical introduction to XML. It covers the reasons for XML, how it is affecting the Web, and how XML is used in the real world. Just enough of the language is taught in this section for the reader to understand the next section. 358 pages of detailed descriptions of the full range of XML applications: three-tier Web applications, data interchange, content management, e-commerce, Web publishing, extended linking, etc. ... plus walk-throughs of XML tools. All of these are illustrated extensively with screen shots and examples. 130 pages of tutorials on XML, XLink, and XSL, plus 180 pages of other technical information. The tutorials are fun and friendly, but comprehensive, precise, and technically accurate.

The book includes a CD-ROM with 55 no-time-limit XML freeware programs, trial versions of major XML products, and all the XML-related specs.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Goldfarb's book is broken down into five parts: an extensive 60-page introduction to XML, covering what it is and where it is going; examples of what you can do with XML, such as online auction, comparison shopping, and natural-language translation; case studies of commercial development with XML, including projects by Hitachi and the Washington Post; a discussion of specialized tools for working with XML; and, finally, a review of the technology of XML--syntax, document type definition, and advanced features. This is the most comprehensive book in the series.

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