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World Wide Web Journal
Vol 2 Issue 4: XML
Principles, Tools and Techniques
Publisher:
O'Reilly
Edited by: Dan Connolly
ISBN: 1-56592-349-9
Publication Date: Oct. 97
Retail Price: $29.95
We've said it before and we'll say it again: the Web is fickle! One day your site is the cat's meow, and the next it's the dog's hind quarters. If you've been involved with Web development for more than a year, then you have seen a few browsers come and go. You may have noticed that several new tags or parameters usually come with each release. First cascading style sheets, then dynamic HTML.
Now, more specifically, XML has been receiving praises of glory from even the most ardent HTML hackers. XML (Extensible Markup Language) is basically a simplified version of SGML, the Standard General Markup Language. XML is not designed to replace HTML, but rather to compliment it. Instead of creating proprietary Web sites with HTML, developers can use XML to create a site that (eventually, we hope) all browsers can understand.
Everyone pretty much realizes that it would be a mistake to invest everything you've got into a site that relies on XML at this time, but at the same time to ignore it would be a grave mistake. Enter O'Reilly's World Wide Web Journal, a publication of the World Wide Web Consortium. This entire issue (Vol 2 Issue 4) focuses on the principles, tools and techniques involved with XML.
Right off the start, understand that this is not one of Laura Lemay's "learn it in 21 days" books, and there is no accompanying CD ROM stuffed with code, software or books. But what it does contain is a well detailed explaination of exactly what XML is, how it came to be, what it can do, who is using it and for what, what it is likely to be used for in the future, and essentially how to use the new syntax. The book includes chapters by the W3C's own editorial board, David Siegel, Dan Connolly, Jon Bosak, and many others.
Is this a book for everyone? Not by a long shot. If you're new to Web development, or are content publishing the Bob's Bisket Web site using basic HTML, then you'll want to pass this thirty dollar gem up. If you are a Web professional that wants to stay on top of Web development issues, then you owe it to yourself and your customers to stay informed. This volume of the World Wide Web Journal will help you do just that, and is indeed worth every penny of that thirty bucks. On top of that, it's a document of Web history...wait and see.
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