Product Description
XML and SQL Server 2000 will enable SQL developers to understand and work with XML, the preferred technology for integrating eBusiness systems. These developers have realized the need to be able to understand and work with high-speed storage and generation capabilities that XML documents and data offer. The pervasiveness of XML has finally caused the beginnings of the appearance of tools that allow easier manipulation of XML itself. SQL Server 2000 has added several new features that SQL Server 7 never had that make working with and generating XML easier for the developer. XML and SQL Server 2000 provides a comprehensive discussion of SQL Server 2000's XML capabilities. There is a brief discussion in the first two chapters on XSL/XSLT and DTD's targeted to database developers since most developers are new to this technology. From there, numerous examples are discussed in the areas of IIS Directories, http, XML views and XML schemas, openxml, and much more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

You have a FREE and BETTER alternative to this book!
Based on the average review scores this book got, I decided to acquire an electronic copy of it through DevX's online bookshelf.After reading this book, I feel cheated.You see, at about the middle point of my reading, I wanted to look up SQL Server 2000's Books Online (BOL) - which comes free with SQL Server install - for details of a certain item.Lo and behold, most of the examples and text in this book closely resembles the BOL's "XML and Internet Support" section.In fact, a lot of the content is almost verbatum copy.In order to make the book look different from the BOL, the author seemed to shuffle the content a little bit and tried to describe the technical points from a different approach than BOL.But he apparently did not do a good job of it.After going through this book, I still feel not clear on a lot of the technical details.So I went back to the BOL and got my questions answered there.It seemed to me that the author manufactured - I don't want to use the word WROTE - the book just to make some quick money.The only merit I'm willing to give this book is its chapters that summarize XSLT and XDR Schema.

Just Excellent
I haven't finished reading this yet but I just had to put it down real quick so I could tell eveyone how useful this book is.I'll warn you up front, you have to take the time to read this - it is packed with information.The XSLT chapter goes into great detail and takes the confusion surrounding this topic and blows it away.The rest are very informative, too.This book is far better than the Henderson/Soukup Guru's guide. Buy this one and you won't need anything else.

Hundreds of hands-on examples
XML And SQL Server 2000 provides an informative, comprehensive, invaluable discussion of SQL Server 2000's new time-saving, easy-to-use XML capabilities. Following a brief discussion on XSL/XSLT and DTD's, users will find hundreds of hands-on examples that can be utilized in day-to-day operations in such areas as IIS Directories, http, xml views and xml schemas, openxml, and much more.

A Readable Guide
In this book, John Griffin has provided a readable discussion of how to incorporate XML into your SQL Server 2000 applications. Starting with a gentle introduction to both XML and XSLT, John quickly moves into incorporating SQL Server 2000 into web applications, including discussion on Virtual Directories, executing SQL via HTTP, and Forms based queries. He then moves onto advanced topics like XDR Schemas and XPath, before concluding with chapters on FOR XML and OPEN XML, which are both important Microsoft extensions to SQL that are explicitly designed to improve the performance of SQL Server 2000 with XML.
One of the only disappointments I had with this book was the neglect of Web Services, which I would expect would be a major reason for using XML with SQL Server 2000. This is not a major criticism, and might be addressed in later editions of the book. In any event, any serious SQL Server 2000 developer should take a look at this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Advances in UML and XML-Based Software Evolution reports recent advances in applications of two popularly used languages, UML and XML, in the field of software evolution. This book covers topics such as: visualizing legacy systems with UML, augmenting UML to support the design and evolution of user interfaces, migration of persistent object models using XML and much more. Advances in UML and XML-Based Software Evolution brings many specialists’ views into one comprehensive text for all academic researchers and industrial practitioners to learn more about these languages. ... Read more

Product Description
Designed for the Delphi developer who wants to learn about XML, Delphi Developer’s Guide to XML covers all aspects of utilizing the power of XML through the Delphi environment. This book provides a solid introduction to the technologies that make up XML and its related specifications. In-depth coverage of the Document Object Model (DOM) includes investigation of the basic specification and three implementations: Microsoft’s DOM, CUESoft’s DOM, and Open XML’s DOM. Similarly, both Microsoft’s version and a native Delphi implementation are described for the Simple API for XML (SAX). Generating XML documents is detailed using simple text, Delphi’s Web modules and XMLBroker, each of the DOMs, and SAX. Developing applications that make use of XML is also covered, including XSLT and SOAP examples.

The CD includes the relevant specifications regarding XML, along with all the code from the book and various XML tools. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

About XML, but not Delphi 6 BizSnap
To start with the disturbing fact: This book is about XML, but not about XML as supported by Delphi 6. Or more specifically, it is about XML, but doesn't cover any of the new Delphi 6 BizSnap XML features (XML Programming, Data Binding Wizard or XML Mapper).

The book starts with a first part to introduce XML. In seven chapters, we learn about the history of XML (and XML vs. HTML), the XML syntax, the old DTD, XSLT, XLink, XPath and XPointer, and finally XML Schemas.

The second part of the book covers the Document Object Model - all about parsing an XML document. DOM is one of the two main approaches you can take when parsing XML. The other is SAX (Simple API for XML), which is covered in part three.

Part four is about Serving XML. This is mainly about viewing XML as data and not as documents. It describes a number of ways in which XML can be generated automatically, for example as text, from a database, using web modules (or InternetExpress), using DOM or SAX, and finally as MIDAS data packet.

The last part of the book covers a number of applications that make use of XML, like an electronic e-mail sender, a customised client and XML examination application (both aWindows client and a Web client). The final chapter of the book even covers SOAP, but not the way Delphi 6 supports SOAP. In fact, I would not use the techniques in this chapter as they are far more complex than the Delphi 6 support (although they do help you understand what's actually happening).

All in all, this is a good book with some detailed coverage of XML and some nice example applications. The first part gives a solid introduction to those without XML knowledge or experience. However, the main thing missing is the lack of real Delphi 6 BizSnap XML coverage (which makes the book "good" but not "very good").

For the intermediate people ...
This book is okay if you like the procedural way to get an overview of the major vendors for XML components. It assumes you know something already about websites and gives a good but (for beginners and intermediate readers) tough layed out protocol and implementation view.

My advice: pick an XML implementation that fits your environment, read the first chapters on the RFC stuff (how it should look) and pass right on to the chapter for your implementation. Reading all the chapters can be quite confusing.

I look at this book as a complete developer's review and it does help me understand how to program XML quite well, but more real-world examples would be welcome (there is one example in it, but in my opinion it does not cover extensive use of XML in larger environments).

Good Reference for a Delphi/XML Programmer
This book is not a beginner's guide. You will feel helpful if you need some guides in XML programming with Delphi. ... Read more

Product Description

The Semantic Web is a vision – the idea of having data on the Web defined and linked in such a way that it can be used by machines not just for display purposes but for automation, integration and reuse of data across various applications. Technically, however, there is a widespread misconception that the Semantic Web is primarily a rehash of existing AI and database work focused on encoding knowledge representation formalisms in markup languages such as RDF(S), DAML+OIL or OWL.

Kashyap, Bussler, and Moran seek to dispel this notion by presenting the broad dimensions of this emerging Semantic Web and the multi-disciplinary technological underpinnings like machine learning, information retrieval, service-oriented architectures, and grid computing, thus combining the informational and computational aspects needed to realize the full potential of the Semantic Web vision. Throughout the book, the use-case of a clinical vignette will serve to motivate and explain solutions based on Semantic Web technologies, emphasizing the application aspects related to data integration, knowledge acquisition, change management, semantic web services, and workflow management.

With this textbook, the authors deliver an application-driven state-of-the-art presentation of Semantic Web technologies, ideally suited for academic courses on the Semantic Web and architectures of information systems, and for self-studying professionals engaged in the design and implementation of advanced application systems.

Customer Reviews (1)

Timely Update to an Important Book
This field is abstruse and, one hopes, rapidly evolving because it hasn't really got very far yet. Vipul gives an excellent and balanced overview. ... Read more

Product Description
Get the drilldown on "HailStorm" right from the source! HailStorm is the codename for a set of XML-based Web services delivered by Microsoft as part of the Microsoft .NET initiative. HailStorm makes it easier for developers to extend existing Web services and create new, sustainable Internet business models. This architectural specification is the first book to provide not only an explanation of HailStorm, but also to describe its messaging interface model, security model, and services. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not very usefull book
Before buying this book please read the title.
This is only what you are going to find a spec. usefull?

A preview into Microsoft's .NET My Services initaitive
This book is a peek into what will become Microsoft's major new web services intiative, .NET My Services. It contains a preliminary set of specs on the architecture of these XML-based web services, and a chapter or two on what .NET My Services is and how you might use it. The upcoming (spring 2002) "Introduction to .NET My Services" book from MS Press will contain a more in-depth introduction, including code samples and an updated "What is this and how will I use it" section. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Not a good intro
I purchased this book hoping to get an understanding of OWL. However,
the book is more of a technical manual - describing the syntax and
how different parts of the language fit together. The book doesn't
really give you a sense of why OWL would be useful or provide any
good examples of its use.
Perhaps if I were already well versed in OWL this book would
have been more useful.

Delivery within desired time
The book met my expectations. Delivery was on time (as this was a desired factor for me)

very good book
the book is well organized and it is very easy to read and follow.
you don't need to go back and read the previous line like many other technical books.

Good source book for OWL and basic ontology definitions
It covers basic concepts of ontology and OWL language. It is very helpful to get broad information about knowledge representation using OWL. The examples could be increased and may be real application examples must be added.

Owl's wisdom
It's a good book, that gives a general overview of semantic web complexities. For people involved it is almost mandatory. As an introduction we would need an user friendly version, with less "syntactical info" and more content oriented and application oriented.
As a technical concern I would be cautious about a "layered" approach to the Semantic Web, instead of a strict layered approach ( remember OSI data communications) I would go to more loosened approach ( remember TCP-IP). But , as a wrap up, it is a very good book. I recommend it. ... Read more

Product Description
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third International Conference on E-Commerce and Web Technologies, EC-Web 2002, held in Aix-en-Provence, France, in September 2002.
The 40 revised full papers presented together with two invited contributions were carefully reviewed and selected from more than 100 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on auction and negotiation technology, applications, architecture, agents, web query processing, web data integration, security and privacy, recommender systems, emerging standards, business models, and e-payment. ... Read more

Product Description
This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the Third International Workshop on the World Wide Web and Databases, WebDB 2000, held in Dallas, Texas, USA in May 2000.
The 16 revised full papers presented together with one invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected after two rounds of reviewing and revision from a total of 69 initial submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on information gathering, caching, querying in XML, XML structuring and versioning, web modling, query processing, and classification and retrieval. ... Read more

Product Description
Whether you want to create your own RSS feeds or just would like tolocate and add them to your Web site, this is the book for you. In theSecrets of RSS, author Steve Holzner provides real-world guidance andadvice to introduce you everything you need to know about effectivelyimplementing and using RSS:

•    How to connect to RSS feed, handle them, and track down what you want
•    The difference between RSS and blogs, and how nearly every major RSS reader works
•    How to design an RSS feed, what you'll find in RSS feeds, and formats and links
•    Create your own first RSS feed from scratch:and subscribe to it
•    Putting RSS to work in the real-world
•    The free tools and software available to help you create RSS files
•    Finding, subscribing to, and creating podcasts
•    Spreading the word about your RSS feed
•    RSS best practices
•    And more!

... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Excellent overview and how-to on RSS
RSS is interesting on a number of levels. As a consumer of information, RSS lets you get massive amounts of information in a convenient manner, allowing you to quickly hone in on what you want to read. As a distributor of information (i.e., a blogger or website owner), RSS lets you distribute information easily which may increase readership of your efforts.

But what do you really have to know about RSS as a consumer or distributor of information? Well, depending on your level of curiousity, it may be a lot or a little.

And to your rescue comes Steven Holzner. Holzner has written a ton - the back cover says 95 - of books of technical subjects. I've read many of them and haven't found a bad one yet. This is no exception.

Holzner covers just about every aspect of RSS, from defining and explaining what it is to RSS readers to creating feeds manually. It's really quite thorough and Holzner has a gift for making technology understandable.

Highly recommended for anyone seeking an introductory to medium grounding in RSS.

Jerry

Secret ofRSS
I am disappointed by purchasing this book. This book would give you just general overview of various ways about rss.

Information on Initial chapter keep on referring to later chapter in the book and information on later chapter are also just general.

Well-written Look to RSS
Steven Holzner does a wonderful job of starting with the very basics of RSS and moving onto more advanced topics towards the end of the book. He covers RSS Feeds, RSS Readers, Blogging with RSS, Podcasting, Publicizing your feeds, RSS Best Practices, and a few other topics.

The book is well-written and easy to read, and well-designed (something I've found with all of Peachpit's titles. While most folks won't be interested in the details of creating a feed by hand, or the subtle differences between versions of the RSS standard, these tidbits ensure the book is a complete treatment of the subject.

For $15 (here on Amazon) you're not going to find a better look at RSS. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (71)

great web bacis
This book is wonderful for those wanting to learn the basics of Web design. The book explains the terms in easy to understand language along with easy to do and learn exercises. The way each chapter adds on the what you learned the chapters before really helps a person to understand the flow of creating a Web Page.

Great Book
This book is great, it talks in strait english. The only minus is, it has no glossary, but the abbreviationscan be found on the internet.

Great Intro / Refresher Book
Best intro to web book I have seen - as far as xhtml, css, and getting graphics ready for the web. It is the book used for my class and I am glad this is what was chosen. It does not get into design really - it is mainly focused on marking up and using css to manipulate the markup. Previously I thought the Heads Up series book was the best intro (due to it's active learning method) but I really think this is the best intro now. Hopefully she keeps this updated as things change.

Really good for beginners.
The book is very helpful for beginners. Written by an industry professional, and gives you more relevant information to web coding, such as dealing with browsers and different audiences, rather than code only. Again, this is for beginners, so don't expect to learn all of XHTML after reading this book. It's a good start though.

Excellent Beginner or Student Book
I teach introductory web design in an art college's continuing education program and this is the book I started recommending to my students (who are often artists, writers or designers wanting to develop basic web design skills) after one of my students purchased it as a HTML/CSS reference book. This book is ideal for a complete beginner, more advanced web students may need or want something more sophisticated.

Here's why I recommend Learning Web Design to my beginner students:

1) The book is in color. Most (possibly all) of the HTML and CSS reference books my students buy are in black and white. For creative, non-technical folks, this can be a challenge--wading through page after page of black and white text can be mind-numbing. The design of the book uses color to indicate key pieces of code, etc, which is very helpful for beginners.

2) The book doesn't cover everything--and doesn't pretend to. It thoroughly discusses the basics of HTML, CSS, web graphics and the process of creating a web site and introduces some intermediate concepts, but really only covers what 90% of beginners need to know.

3) The writing tone is friendly (I like the Dummies Guides for the same reason), which is great for non-technical users.

4) The exercises that accompany each lesson are good, and are nice jumping off points for students.

5) The discussion of graphics is better than in most books I've seen--it seems that a lot of basic web design references drop the ball in this area, probably because they're trying to cover so much material in the HTML & CSS sections. ... Read more

Product Description

This is the book every Internet application developer needs to quickly get up-to-speed on the new .NET and Visual Studio .NET technology used to build Windows applications. The authors provide authoratative information about the Common Language Runtime and .NET Foundation Classes, which form the building blocks for application development in the .NET universe. The construction of Web Services and how they communicate with each other is demystified by the thoroughcoverage of ASP.NET, XML, and ADO.NET.

Visual Basic^® .NET Developer's Guide to ASP.NET, XML, and ADO.NET provides:

• Unbiased, in-depth commentary on the efficacy of the various technologies that comprise .NET as they pertain to Internet database developers
• Technical know-how without crushing the reader with pointless detail
• Implementation details that replace and extend the existing Active Server Pages (ASP), XML, and ActiveX Data Object (ADO) functionality currently supported by Microsoft
• Practical Visual Basic .NET code examples that illustrate operations used most often by application developers
• Thorough reference material to the objects available in the Foundation Class libraries

Customer Reviews (5)

Excellent book on ASP, XML, and ADO for VB.Net developers
Every now and then, a book comes along that I feel deserves 5 stars.This is one of those books.This book targets the intermediate Visual Basic.Net developer but someone trying to learn Visual Basic.Net, ASP.Net, ADO.Net, or XML will find that this book is easy to read.Chapters 1 through 10 cover ASP.Net, Chapter 11 covers XML, and Chapter 12 covers ADO.Net. At the end of several chapters, the authors provide a mini-reference.For example, at the end of chapter 11, there is a mini-reference on XML.I use these mini-references on a daily basis. In each chapter the authors have ample examples.The amazing thing is that they all work.I followed every example and with a minor exception of 1 example in the XML Chapter, all of the examples worked.The one exception just required some minor adjustments (using the XML indentation method).This is my first book by Jeffery P. McManus and Chris Kinsman but it won't be the last.I plan to buy their equivalent book on C#.I would also buy any "advanced" books that the authors write.

Pros:Easy to read, ample examples that work, and mini-references at the end of the chapters.

Cons: I would like to see more illustrations in the book.

This book is definitely a "Buy".

the rosetta stone!
As an experienced VB and ASP developer, I have spent the last year trying to make some progress in developing ASP.NET applications.5-6 book purchases helped, but I never could really get the hang of it, until I got this book.After a very enjoyable time reading this book, and working through the examples, I am now going back through the other books, getting much more understanding from them.

It's hard for me to say why this book proved to be so much more helpful, but it did.Jeffrey McManus is a good speaker and author, and this is the first book I've read from Chris Kinsman.Maybe it's their language that helped me, maybe it was the subjects they chose to spend time on, but one way or another, this book opened the floodgates for me.

A couple of things I can definitely say that I found to be head and shoulders above other books are:

1) Lack of errors/typos, etc.I'm not saying there aren't any, but this book definitely was not one of those that make it harder to learn simply because you think what you are reading is right, and it isn't.I had zero problems like that.

2) Easy to follow code examples.So many books I've read make their examples too complex, expecting that you know everything that they are doing except for the one narrow thing they are trying to teach you.Like using regular expressions to validate email addresses before you save them to the database, and this in an example of "how to save to the database."This book has none of that junk.Each example cuts to the core of what it is trying to show you, and makes sure to explain it all, step by step.

I can't wait for these guys to team up again.

Good reference worth keeping at hand
I would recommend this book for those VB/ASP developers who wish to get a basic guide to migrating to the new .NET technology. It does assume some previous knowledge of ASP development. It is useful as a handy reference for major features of .NET ASP development. I would not recommend it for those just getting started with ASP.NET.

The book is well organized for the amount of subject matter covered. I found it somewhat daunting at first, since the author gets right into the new features of ASP.NET without a lot of background and foundation theory. Some may find this cutting to the chase as a feature, but the subject of migration is no small task.

Going on to the page framework and configuration chapters, however provided a more rewarding journey. The book provides some basic knowledge needed for configuring and deploying an ASP application. This is an important topic that many books do not cover as thoroughly.

The coverage of Web services is quite sufficient to get one started on their way to developing web service based applications. The code examples are well organized and easy to navigate and relate well to illustrate the text. The book is not, however a guide on style or technique - you'll need to develop that elsewhere.

The sections on XML and ADO.NET are enough to get started with a good understanding of how these topics are so importantly tied into ASP.NET applications.

Overall, the authors provide a great deal of detailed information without a lot of unnecessary verbiage. The book makes a reasonably good reference worth keeping at hand. -- Reviewed by Richard S.

Very Informative...Easy to Read
This book is very easy to read, and the examples in the book are all easy to follow.It provides enough information for people who are new to .NET and those who need a reference tool. The book has a good background on Visual Basic .NET, ASP.NET, XML, and ADO.NET.Very easy to understand.

Chapter 2 provides good information for migrating from ASP to ASP.NET.It helps ASP 3.0 developers understand the differences between ASP 3.0 and ASP.NET and what needs to be changed.This book also discusses the general idea of Web Services, XML and ADO.NET with very simple examples.Having this makes it very helpful in understanding the corrolation of all the .NET features.You may want to pick up other books if you want to know more about these topics.I was able to use some of the examples in my development work, the examples are very nicely written and very well explained.This book, as is, can be a good tool for both learning .NET and used as a reference in future development work.Irecommend the book. ---Reviewed by Annie W.

Money well spent.
This book is good for beginners and mid level .NET developers; it can also be used as a reference, too. It is concise and it contains complete examples (hello W...). The author does not assume that you have VS.NET, which can be a plus for some.

I have other books written by Jeffery McManus. This book is just as good. I would like to see more books written by this author but on the advance side, for those who mainly use VS.NET as their development environment. ... Read more

Product Description

According to recent press reports, everyone is developing Web Services, but many are still in the exploratory phase - learning what's involved and how to achieve ROI.This book is designed to give a working introduction to Web Services to help decision-makers prepare for the implementation in their companies.It demystifies the topic by providing a beginning level explanation of what this technology is, what it means to businesses, where to apply it, and how to make it work.

Using numerous simple examples, the book explains the core concepts of Web Services: SOAP, UDDI, and WSDL, as well as tools and related concepts that will help create the "big picture" in readers' minds.

Customer Reviews (5)

Served me well as an introduction to web services.
To get right to the point, this book is written in a very easy to read and accessable style, with just the right diagrams and illustrations in the right places to aid in understanding.

I've never programmed with web services, but I need to know the terminology and basically what it's all about.This book served me well in this capacity.

It is not a book that goes into detail as to exactly how to do programming.This book is not technology specific, but rather after spending the first half easing the reader into exactly what web services are and why they exist, shows at a high-level how they are created with several different common technology platforms.

Also, there is a chapter on real world web services so the reader can go out and see exactly what web services look like when they are deployed in the "real world".

If you've never programmed a web services application before, I seriously doubt that you'll be able to do it after reading this book, at least nothing more than a simple example application.And in that sense, the title is a bit misleading.Perhaps it should have been "Introduce yourself to web services in 24 hours."

So, I can see how a certain type of reader might be dissapointed, but this book is exactly what I needed when I needed it.

Shipping and quality was great!
Book was practically new just like it was stated, and it didn't take more than 2 weeks to come which was PERFECT! There was almost no difference between this book and the new books =]

Great reading
The "Teach Yourself" series has done little to impress me until the arrival of this book. XML-based web services are getting traction as a truly standard way of enabling the service-oriented systems architecture. An architecture where systems can be built to expose services in such a way as to make it easier to integrate enterprise systems has been built many times already, but always ending up with constraints related to programming language, operating system and hardware. This book provides a good introduction to XML-based web services components including XML schema, WSDL, UDDI, SOAP and HTML with a comparison to the past attempts including DCOM and CORBA. The code examples require some analysis but are pretty helpful once you've taken the time to decode the XML and the scenario examples / case studies provide an interesting context to see how XML-based web services can be applied.

Diving into Web Services
As someone who knew ABSOLUTELY nothing about web services when I started, this book was the best of the 1/2 dozen titles I perused because it balanced high level understanding with the nitty-gritty and code examples. I found this book far most useful than titles such as 'Web Service: A Manager's Guide' and '.Net Web Services for Dummies'.

As someone who is not particularly technical, the code segments were still very useful in understanding what is going on.Without looking at a little code, understanding web services and its components becomes too esoteric.Why would you just describe an elephant when you can also provide a picture.

As someone who was just trying to understand web services and had no interest in comparing specific vendors' web services offerings, the chapters on commercial tools such as Apache Axis, Java, .NET, IBM Websphere and BEA Weblogic, and their specific pros/cons was not terribly interesting to me.But I could see how they would be valuable to an IT Professional.

The book does not really take 24 hours.Overall, I spent 9 intense hours working through this book to developing a good grasp of the technology.I recommend the opening chapters of 'Understanding .NET' by Chappell as a great supplement.Chappel gives great brief high-level descriptions on the components of web services and how they came about.

...

A good way to learn what web services are
To learn how to build and use web services, you first must determine what they are and how they differ from current technologies used in the development and use of web pages. With the exception of being based on eXtensible Markup Language (XML), they are only different in degree from widely used web technologies such as Active Server Pages (ASPs) and Java Server Pages (JSPs).
The authors do a good job of explaining what web services are and how they differ from other technologies. They also do not fall victim to the evangelical bug, being very explicit in pointing out the disadvantages of web services as well as the advantages as a chapter is devoted to each point. Another chapter is devoted to comparing how web services differ from other technologies such as ASPs, JSPs, Common Gateway Interface (CGI), Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) and Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI).
The middle section of the book is devoted to describing the architecture of web services , the basics of XML, how web services communicate using XML and Simple Object Access Prototcol (SOAP), how web services are described using Web Services Description Language (WSDL), and how to advertise a web service using Universal Description , Discovery and Integration (UDDI). While not detailed, it is a complete introduction to all of the steps you must go through to create a complete web service that others can use.
The third section is devoted to describing several tools that can be used to build web services. Commercial tools such as Apache Axis, Java, .NET, IBM Websphere and BEA Weblogic are covered and the authors are to be commended in also showing how they can be built using inexpensive and free toolkits. Finally, the last section covers topics such as the interoperability of web services, how security is included in web services and what some of the future trends in web services may be.
This book is an introduction to web services, so it is not possible to learn all of the specifics you need to build complex web services from it. However, if you are a beginner, there is enough information to get you started and to help you make decisions concerning whether you want to start building them. ... Read more

Product Description
This book teaches readers how to create Web pages using XHTML, the XML-based successor to HTML.This concise and easy-to-understand introduction shows readers how to build Web pages with XHTML that are compatible with both new XML-based Web applications and with today's HTML-based browsers.Readers are taken through the process of building a Web site, from the initial planning, all the the way through to the site's implementation, learning the basic elements of XHTML throughout.The book also includes useful reference material containing a Web Safe Color Chart, a listing of XHTML standard tags and attributes, and a CSS reference table.This book is appropriate for anyone who wants to learn how to create Web pages using XHTML. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A brief, if not perfect,introduction to the topic.
I am currently using this book as a text in a course I teach.Xhtml is a minor component of the course material and as such, this is a good text.There are good examples and references to important web sites.It covers all of the basics.

Being small (yet pricey), this book doesn't spend a lot of time on web design and it is not a particularly good reference manual. As another reviewer wrote, there are a few errors in it.

But, if you want to get your feet wet, take the book, read it carefully, duplicate all of the examples get them to work.If you do this, you'll have a good solid start in the subject matter.

A comedy of Errors...Save your money...
I have bought this book as it was a prerequisite for a college course.
I started to read the first chapter and proceeded to do the assignments,
when lo an behold what I had read was grossly inaccurate. Inblack and white.
The errors start on page 9. Gross errors such as Cheryl M. Hughes stating that,a "paragraph
is an empty element,unlike other elements,have one tag. WRONG
An paragraph must always have a start tag

, and an end tag
I won't go on because the following errors are just as gross. I found out about
the errors through the instructor. So I ask how does a 196 page glossy, visual, colour
book come up to 41.38 plus tax. Why does the college promote it? Sam's Xhtml you can get
for 40 to 60 dollars and is about 500 pages long. Who's in cohootswith whom.
I am not throwing this money away and I'll be asking for a refund from the publisher.
How can the college who is aware of gross errors still promote this book?
Who's in cohoots with whom? Who is this Cheryl M. Hughes? Has anybody proof read the book
who knew anything at all about XHTML or can I also write a book publish it and charge that
kind of money for a sloppily, inaccurate, ERRONEOUS information.
DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK IF YOU DID BRING IT BACK. ASK FOR A REFUND. WRITE TO THE PUBLISHER.
As for the person who gave it five stars, did youeven bother learning anything...?
Have you a clue what you are writing about?
Who's paying you to give a book full of major errata five stars.
By the way I gave it 1 star because there was no 0.
DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK

Easy read for beginners
If you are a beginner, this is the XHTML book for you. An easy read for those starting to learn web design. ... Read more

Product Description
This book, written by two HP web services experts, is the authoritative guide to the UDDI registry technology in both Sun's J2EE and Microsoft's .NET environments. Registries are a cornerstone of web services. This book examines registries in detail, discussing the value proposition, providing hands-on examples for registering and discovering web services within XML-based registries, and including a survey of the registry competitive landscape. It covers all aspects of the service life cycle and walks readers through deploying a private UDDI registry. The book focuses on UDDI and to a much lesser extent, ebXML, and refers to supporting web services technologies where appropriate. UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration) is an XML - based registry for businesses worldwide to list themselves on the Internet. Its ultimate goal is to streamline online transactions by enabling companies to find one another on the Web and make their systems interoperable for e-commerce. UDDI is often compared to a telephone book's white, yellow, and green pages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Deeper understandig and registries
Several books in the market gloss over the UDDI technology. It is usually an addendum to a book about Web services or service oriented architecture. It was a pleasant surprise to see that there is a book dedicated to this topic. I firmly believe that until registries such as UDDI become commonplace, the true vision of SOA cannot be achieved. The authors make several good points regarding this. I also liked the examples used in the book -- more real-world than registering hello world services.

It's bit longer read, but totally worth it when you are writing and registering more complex Web services than Echo and 20-min delayed stock quote.

Low-density book on UDDI
This book spends a tremendous amount of pages per idea. There is a lot of code in the main text (should be on a digital medium or at least the appendix). And this code is even repeated in .Net and Java.

Anyhow:
It is a fast and swift read.
You get some examples.
You do find things you do not find in other books.

My best recommendation for UDDI is still the corresponding chapter in Eric Newcomer's Web Services book.

This book is part of the Hewlett-Packard Professional books series. Except for the cover design, this is (luckily) not noticeable at all. Well the company employs the authors.

Excellent book that puts business registries in perspective
There are several resources that take a "reference book" approach when explaining a technology. While that solves the immediate problem of getting syntax right, it rarely helps in getting proper understanding about how a technology is suppose work within a solution. Such books also fail to provide an understanding of how and when to employ the specific technology while designing and implementing a solution to a specific problem. I found that this book has refreshingly taken a different approach --- looking at a technology from architect or technologist perspective. Sure, it has devoted about a third of the book to UDDI APIs, a section that willbe useful for developers, but at the same time, it also provides several insights for senior technical members of a team. For example, the five usage models for business registries in corporate environment covers practically all scenarios in which a business registry-based application can be created. Some of the discussion, such as that on Web services ecosystem or on vendor-customer relationships and role of business registries in those is even useful for IT and business managers.

Overall, I find it a complete book on UDDI -- one that caters to the needs of not only developers, but also senior technology staff in a team as well as IT and business managers for whom registry technologies are relevant. ... Read more

Product Description
This book present a framework for planning and managing the IT initiatives that are crucial to any Web-based business strategy. Finding the right formula, for adapting IT Infrastructures and business models real world business conditions in today's economy is more challenging than ever. The resulting "4-Dimensional Framework" consists of a 4X4 matrix of fundamental concepts, rules and practices. Part I focuses on the key drivers (Business, People, Technology, and Process). Part II covers the key phases of business analysis and project management. Part III explores the disciplines required to coordinate and implement specific strategies, including Value-Chain Analysis, Value-Chain Redesign and Change Mangement. Finally, Part IV (Implementing the 4th Dimension) explores the tools needed to implement the solutions developed in Parts I-III. It covers High-Velocity Management, a critical tool needed to put into action the high-level process transformations defined by the value-chain analysis detailed in Part III. It also details a strategic Change Management system that deals with on-going implementation and long-term maintenance issues. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Traditional Approaches Infused with Web Reality
Perhaps the major failure of the Internet Boom was its attempt to fit business models to technology.Had analysts fit the technology to the business model, we may have had a different experience.

A major theme of this book is that unless one keeps a clear eye on the four principle- business, people, process and technology -business drivers, it is difficult, if not impossible, to steer a course towards success.

There is no escaping the fact the Internet merely enables a more well-planned approach to securing a strategic position in a competitive market.It is not a one stop solution.The book demonstrates exactly how to integrate all four elements to deliver maximum value.

The authors conclude their book with a case study that illustrates the principles they espouse.In their appendix, they include interest assessment and change-management templates along with an interesting chapter on project management.

This book aligns the traditional mainframe approaches of reliability, availability and support with the realities of the web.It is worth every penny of its purchase price.

Finally!Updated processes aligned to modern environments
Having read (and reviewed) the eleven previous books in the Enterprise Computing series my expectations for this book were high - and completely met.

Like the other books in the series the structure and content covers people, process and technology, with an emphasis on business and stakeholder requirements.Unlike the other books, which are steeped in traditional approaches to reliability, availability and support processes that were born in the mainframe environment, this one gives those proven processes a facelift and aligns them to the realities of web time and pressures.Not that the parent processes were flawed - they were not agile enough to support the rapidly changing technical and business requirements that are constantly emerging.However, the best part of this book is that it never loses sight of business imperatives, which is something that needs to be reinforced in the minds of IT operations and management staff.

The book starts with a detailed discussion of business drivers, then covers the four essential dimensions of the web infrastructure framework.This is a blend of business- and technical-oriented actions, which includes understanding all factors and drivers, planning and phased implementation, value chain analysis and agile processes.In fact, the one aspect of the earlier books that I lamented - forcing old (but proven and necessary) processes, such as change control into web-based and e-business environments was not working.While the processes are essential, they needed streamlining, which is something many of us who specialize in service support and delivery have been grappling with. This book provides streamlined approaches that meet the requirements of contemporary environments, while maintaining the integrity of the processes themselves. This alone is reason enough to read this book.

The book ends with a case study that illustrates the key points made in the main body of the book, and also provides excellent material in the four appendices (including change control templates). ... Read more

Product Description
Who is this book for?

This book is for programmers who want to learn how to use the XSLT language for developing web applications. The book is in four parts: a detailed introduction to the concepts of the language, a reference section giving comprehensive specifications and working examples of every feature, a development guide giving design advice and case studies for the advanced user, and a product reference detailing the features and usage of the latest versions of Microsoft MSXML, Apache Xalan, Oracle XML, open source Saxon, the TRAX API and other processors and tools.

What does this book cover?
* Explains the rationale behind XSLT: what is it for?
* Describes the XSLT processing model
* Explores design patterns and stylesheet structure
* Provides a full reference to the XPath and XSLT languages
* Demonstrates the use of XSLT with worked examples
* Describes currently available XSLT processors - updated to reflect recent advances in XSLT parser technology
* Includes coverage of proposed specification enhancements

As an experienced developer, you need to get the facts on a new technology fast. Without the marketing hype, without the trivial introduction. That's what Wrox Programmer's References deliver. Hard facts on the newest technologies with practical examples of how to apply new tools to your development projects today.Amazon.com Review
As XML begins to take hold, the eXtensible Stylesheet Language: Transformation (XSLT) standard will be playing a major role in making all those XML predictions a reality. Author Michael Kay exudes enthusiasm in this guide, XSLT Programmer's Reference, by taking every opportunity to illustrate the power and flexibility of XSLT.

Kay calls XSLT the "SQL of the Web"--a phrase that is sure to perk up the ears of many readers expecting a simple documentation of just another Web-language standard. Like other Wrox Programmer's Reference series titles, this book starts off with chapters that rapidly introduce the concepts and set the context for the core of the book, which is a complete documentation of the XSLT standard. The book uses this space well to explore the transformation process and the tree structure that is used for both input and output of style sheet documents. By the time the reader gets to the reference section of the book, he or she will be convinced of the power of XSLT.

Each element of XSLT is covered with concise examples that include both the source XML code and style sheet code. XSLT style sheets can be used in a variety of ways and across a wide spectrum of complexity. The book helps the reader grasp this concept by presenting four style-sheet design patterns that comprise the vast majority of implementations. The text looks at each, demonstrating how to identify the design pattern by its content and apply it to appropriate circumstances.

XSLT is the true muscle behind XML and is integral to putting XML to work in the real world. This title is simply a must-have for any developer utilizing XML. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered:

• XSLT transformation processing model
• Style sheet structure
• XSLT element reference
• Expressions patterns
• Functions
• Style-sheet design patterns
• Case studies
• Saxon
• Xalan
• xt
• Microsoft MSXML3

Customer Reviews (83)

The XSLT 1.0 Bible
I'm biased towards this book vs. newer editions, since I [like many of us] am still forced to use a XSLT 1.0 implementation.

For that, this book is the bible.It covers, in great detail, examples of just about everything you can do in XSLT/XPath 1.0.Because Mr. Kay wrote the Saxon processor, he can give insights into what an XSLT processor will actually be doing.This sort of information is vital when you want to write advanced XSLT transformations.

This probably isn't the book for the a beginner, but everyone else who programs XSLT 1.0 MUST have this book on their shelves.

Almost unusable
This book, as the other reviewers have said, is an awful beginning or reference text for XSLT.

I have to whip up an XSL transform only a few times a year, so I never remember exactly how the syntax works.This book is never any help.The introductory sections are not informative, and the reference sections are not well-organized and have no helpful examples.

He likes to spend a lot of time explaining in various places that "technically, this blah blah blah is a valid construct, but no one will ever use it."Who cares?The book is supposed to help others get their jobs done.

Still, I have been able to finish my assignments using this book, so I can't give it 1 star.2 stars is generous, though, for how angry this book consistently makes me.

Wealth of information obscured by the editing, writing, and organization
This review is for "XSLT: Programmer's Reference 2nd Edition."The book covers XSLT 1.0 and XPath 1.0.Although these are "old" technologies, they are still heavily used in software in many industries.While there are newer books covering XSLT 2.0 and XPath 2.0, those technologies have not achieved widespread support, so you will want to rely on this book for the next few years.

Michael Kay is one of the leading authorities on XSLT, XML, and XPath, and it clearly shows in the content of this book.There is a lot of detail to his explanations, and the topics he covers are comprehensive, including little-discussed items that other books fail to cover.There is a wealth of information in this book.Mind you, this is a reference book, and it's not conducive to being read front-to-back.You do need some knowledge of the subject to be able to find what you need.

Unfortunately, the organization, editing, writing is not as good as the technical information itself.The writing style is similar to writing found in a technical paper, so it is somewhat hard reading.At times, the author repeats himself over several paragraphs as if he didn't know he already stated the information previously.The page headings don't have chapter designations, so when the author refers to a chapter (without a page number), you can't find the chapter without going back to the table of contents and finding the page number.The index is also a little disorganized as some keywords aren't always where one might think.Overall, it looked like there was so much information that the editors could not figure out how to organize it effectively.

Despite these serious flaws in organization, editing, and writing, the coverage of the subject matter is the most comprehensive I have found thus far.I've spent money to buy other books, including O'Reilly ones, and I still refer to this book, even though I know this book is not the best read.That is why I have to give it 4 stars rather than 3 stars; the information is too good to pass up.

Indispensable for XSLT Developers
I just finished up about 3 years on a job where one of my primary functions was editing, troubleshooting, teaching, and writing XSLT.I started that job as an experienced programmer with little XSLT experience, and I found this book relatively easy to navigate.I referred to this book constantly.It was indispensable as a reference for XPath and XSLT functions.Whenever I thought "How do I build the code to grab this XML?" or "What's the name of that function?"I would crack open this book and put together the pieces.
Note that there is a new XSLT reference out by Michael Kay-- that may be preferable if you are interested in XSLT 2.0.

Look Elsewhere for XSLT Book
This is the worst technical book I've ever used. There is no organization to it, and there is redundant information, especially in the elements listing section. There are areas that are extremely verbose and make little sense while other areas could use simple, less wordy explanation follwed by an example. This book makes a good paper weight, that's about it. ... Read more

Product Description
Steven Holzner's friendly, easy-to-read style has turned this book (formerly known as Inside XML) into the leading reference on XML. Unlike other XML books, this one is packed with hundreds of real-world examples, fully tested and ready to use!

Holzner teaches you XML like no other author can, covering every major XML topic today and detailing the ways XML is used now--connecting XML to databases (both locally and on web servers), stying XML for viewing in today's web browsers, reading and parsing XML documents in browsers, writing and using XML schemas, creating graphical XML browsers, working with the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), and a great deal more. Real World XML is designed to be the standard in XML coverage--more complete, and more accessible, than any other.

"The author's approach is definitely bottom up, written in a highly personable tone. He makes efficient use of example code, which sets this book apart from many I have read in the past. His examples bring to life the code without overwhelming the reader, and he does not present any examples for which the reader has not been prepared. In addition, no prior knowledge of XML is assumed. As such, this is an excellent book for both beginners and intermediate level web designers and programmers. Experts, too, will find this book of value, due to its emphasis on real world applicability. Overall, this book will benefit all web developers and programmers, with a special emphasis on beginner and intermediate developers."--Donna A. Dulo, MS, MA, Senior Systems Engineer, U.S. Department of Defense

"This book will provide a brilliant basis for anyone wishing to keep up to speed with the new XML developments."--Mr. Andrew Madden, Department of Computer Science, University of Wales

"I found this book's strengths to be: its exhaustive specification reference for the conscientious developer; access to the official specs, which is key; the wide variety of choices provided for all aspects of XML; several alternatives provided for each editor, browser, parser, stylesheet transform engine, and programming language; and working examples that show the power of the tools used."--Jaime Ryan, Software Developer/Documentation Manager, Blue Titan Software

Customer Reviews (51)

ITS A BOOK
THIS BOOK HAS PAPER PAGES WITH WORDS ON THEM!!!!ITS A BIT OF A DRY READ BUT HAS LOTS OF INFORMATION THAT COULD BE USEFULL TO SOMEONE...IM A LITTLE DISAPOINTED THAT ALL THE PICTURES ARE IN BLACK AND WHITE, BUT HAS WONDERFULL SHADES OF GRAY IN THE PICTURES THAT MAKE UP FOR THE LACK OF COLOR... AT ABOUT 6 LBS THIS BOOK MAKES FOR A GREAT BUG KILLER.. THE DOOR STOP FEATURE IS OUTSTANDING!!!

this book is INDUSTRIAL STRENGHT CODING TECHNIQUESif thats not what your looking for dont buy it!!!!

Great for Newbies (to XML and Programming in general)
This book is VERY comprehensive. Holzner literally holds your hand through every single step, which is great if you are totally new XML or even programming in general.

However, if you have more than 1 or two years real world experience programing, this book will more than likely just frustrate you on certain levels. The information is still top notch, it's just that the path getting there is very deliberate.

See some of the other negative reviews for examples.

Still, I think it's a great book.

One of the better XML books around
XML can be a rather dry topic. Steve Holzner writes in a style that makes the subject rather interesting. It's the first XML book that I've come across that hasn't sent me to sleep. This book is a great intro into the world of XML. Highly recommended for those looking for a starting point.

A good reference book on XML and its uses.
Title:Real World XML
Edition:1st edition?
Author: Dr. Steven Holzner
City: Indianapolis, IN
Publisher: Peachpit press
Published Date: 2003

Reviewer Name: Ravi Mahalingam
E-mail address: mravichandran@hotmail.com
Review Date:25 July 2004.

Overall value of the book:
4=Very useful and well written.I will refer to this book again.

Instructional value of the book:
5=Excellent!An essential book on this topic.

Please rate the reference value of this book from 1-5 where
4=This book has earned a valued place on my reference shelf.


The author is an exponent in this field and has written a number of articles adn XML.Due to the mastery over XML, the author has taken the time to explain all the concepts, history and ways to create XML document. the author has written the book at various levels.from basic to advanced depending on the need of the reader.this book can be used by the students of XML who want to start from scratch.

the author begins the book (chapter 1) by touching the salient features of the XML, its features, editor, and different implementations of XML in fields such as chemical markup language to name a few.the author has also explained about creating well formed documents, validating them against DTDs and XML schemas.

the author had provided history about XML schemas asn provided ways to create scheams.Javascript has been used for manipulating XML documents and examples to explain the difficult concepts.the book also describes how to use XML with data from a traditional RDBMS with simple examples.

this book is an excellent book and I will be buying my cousin this book - he was looking for a good book on XML.I think it is a great honor to evaluate a book by this author.

Very good overview of XML technologies...
This is the second edition of Holzner's book, which was originally titled Inside XML.I purchased Inside XML back in 2001 when I first started exploring XML, and it was a good choice back then.Looking at the new version of the book, my opinion hasn't changed.It's still a good choice.

Holzner assumes little programming knowledge in his writing.The JavaScript and Java chapters dealing with XML each start with a very high-level tutorial on the language.It's enough to allow you to understand how XML processing can fit in that environment.Throughout the entire book, there is an abundance of examples that you can study and use to get you up and running quickly.To me, the value of this book is how it gives you a great overview of all the pieces of XML as well as example code to make it all come together.

Perhaps the only "drawback" to this book is how much it tries to cover.Looking at the table of contents, you see that XML is actually a number of technologies that are used in conjunction with each other.You could easily buy individual books that are more comprehensive in coverage for any one of these related technologies, like SOAP, XSL, or Cascading Style Sheets.Conversely, you would get so bogged down in the minute details that you'd miss the bigger picture of how they all fit together.This book gives you more than enough information to get started, as well as helping you to understand what it is you still don't know.

For Notes/Domino developers, this is a perfect title to use to get started on XML technology.You will likely find yourself at some point having to either read or produce an XML file for exchange with another business entity.This book will help you to understand what you need to know to get it done.You could use the Java examples in order to code Domino agents to process XML, and those same examples could also help you to understand some of the LotusScript XML classes that are now provided in Notes/Domino.The SOAP chapters will also be valuable should you have to learn to use and/or create web services for your application.

Conclusion
If you are a beginning or intermediate developer who needs to learn the basics of XML in a hurry, this is a very good choice.If you need in-depth knowledge of any particular part of XML, you could supplement this choice with a specific book on that subject.Recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Semantic translation is the process of using semantic information to aid in the translation of data in one representation or data model to another representation or data model. Semantic translation takes advantage of semantics that associate meaning with individual data elements in one dictionary to create an equivalent meaning in a second system. An example of semantic translation is the conversion of XML data from one data model to a second data model using formal ontologies for each system such as the Web Ontology Language (owl). This is frequently required by intelligent agents that wish to perform searches on remote computer systems that use different data models to store their data elements. The process of allowing a single user to search multiple systems with a single search request is also known as federated search. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Software Industry Report, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on September 20, 1999. The length of the article is 336 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: NEW WEB-BASED XML APPLICATION ENABLES DISPARATE SYSTEMS TO SHARE WORKFLOW INFORMATION.
Publication: Software Industry Report (Newsletter)
Date: September 20, 1999
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 31Issue: 18Page: 5

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more