See how XML works for business needs and RSS feeds

Create consistency on the Web, or tag your data for different purposes

Tag -- XML is it! XML tags let you share your format as well as your data, and this handy guide will show you how. You’ll soon be using this markup language to create everything from Web sites to business forms, discovering schemas and DOCTYPES, wandering the Xpath, teaming up XML with Office 2003, and more.

Discover how to
* Make information portable
* Use XML with Word 2003
* Store different types of data
* Convert HTML documents to XHTML
* Add CSS to XML
* Understand and use DTDs

See how XML works for business needs and RSS feeds

Create consistency on the Web, or tag your data for different purposes

Tag ? XML is it! XML tags let you share your format as well as your data, and this handy guide will show you how. You’ll soon be using this markup language to create everything from Web sites to business forms, discovering schemas and DOCTYPES, wandering the Xpath, teaming up XML with Office 2003, and more.

Discover how to

• Make information portable
• Use XML with Word 2003
• Store different types of data
• Convert HTML documents to XHTML
• Add CSS to XML
• Understand and use DTDs

See how XML works for business needs and RSS feeds

Create consistency on the Web, or tag your data for different purposes

Tag — XML is it! XML tags let you share your format as well as your data, and this handy guide will show you how. You’ll soon be using this markup language to create everything from Web sites to business forms, discovering schemas and DOCTYPES, wandering the Xpath, teaming up XML with Office 2003, and more.

Discover how to

• Make information portable
• Use XML with Word 2003
• Store different types of data
• Convert HTML documents to XHTML
• Add CSS to XML
• Understand and use DTDs

Put the power of XML to work on your Web site.

Is your Web site hampered by the limitations of HTML? This friendly guide--completely updated with new examples, tools, and techniques--shows you step-by-step how to take your site to new heights with Extensible Markup Language, from enhancing database connectivity to enhancing pages with specialized data elements.

See how XML works for business needs and RSS feeds

Create consistency on the Web, or tag your data for different purposes

Tag — XML is it! XML tags let you share your format as well as your data, and this handy guide will show you how. You’ll soon be using this markup language to create everything from Web sites to business forms, discovering schemas and DOCTYPES, wandering the Xpath, teaming up XML with Office 2003, and more.

Discover how to

• Make information portable
• Use XML with Word 2003
• Store different types of data
• Convert HTML documents to XHTML
• Add CSS to XML
• Understand and use DTDs

"

Offering the most recent XML core and related specifications including XML 1.1 and Microsoft Office 2003, this book is an ideal introductory resource on the basics of XML, the flexible way to create common information formats and share both the format and the data

With more than 70 percent revised text, the new coverage includes how to use the XML features in Office 2003, a discussion of the many practical business applications for XML, and how to actually implement XML in a business setting

Takes into account that XML is not exclusively for Web designers any longer and targets newcomers to XML who need to learn how to solve business issues as well as those who need practical XML solutions

The companion Web site contains programming code, trial software packages, XML tools and parsers, and sample XSLT transforms

"

fast reading book
I usually read just to get a big picture. I thought this did the job. Dummies Books are a lot more palatable than other books on topics as dry as this.

Great Book
I’m never disappointed with Dummies books and this one is no exception. Great read, easy to learn.

Reviews Are About A Different Edition of XML For Dummies
These reviews are all very misleading as they refer to a previous edition of the book which is no longer available, the third edition of XML For Dummies. XML For Dummies, 4th edition, the book featured here, addresses many of the concerns raised in the reviews of the third edition.

Just flat out wrong sometimes
As a complete newbie to XML this was a good starter. As I got deeper into XML I found several mistakes/deficiencies in the book, and sometimes the author just flat out seemed to not know what he was talking about. For instance, the claim on page 86 that (#CDATA) is a valid DTD element content definition is flat out wrong. His description of Schema element declarations (pp. 114-115) teaches that using globals/refs is the only way to define complex elements, and is inappropriate for his example. He makes no mention of globals at all, leaving the reader confused. I have ceased to trust this book as a valid source of XML information.

For real dummies
If you want to kill your time without learning anything, this book is absolute right for you.

Horrible book
I bought this book from BarnesNoble hoping to get off to a reasonable start on learning XML. What I discovered is a
complete jumble of repeated ideas, technical jargon, incomplete explanations, and lack of examples. I have read many
"For Dummies" books in the past and they were all very good. I don’t understand how this one actually made it thru to
the publisher. The "For Dummies" series must be cutting costs or undergoing new management or something. I actually
came on Amazon to warn other people about spending money on this book. And I found a whole load of people beat
me to the punch.

If you are still considering buying this book, please read this word-by-word quote taken from the very FIRST INTRODUCTORY
chapter of this book. The author is ATTEMPTING to explain what an attribute is: (An attribute is one of the most fundamental
ideas in XML. Here is his explanation.)

(Taken from Chapter ONE: XML Basics - Getting to Know XML)

"Attribute: In XML, a property associated with an XML element that’s also a named characteristic of the element. An attribute
also provides additional data about an element, independent of element content."

Uhh...okay there. I’ve programmed in several other languages before and this explanation just plain sucks for someone
who’s never written a word of XML. It sounds like something I read out of my CS textbook when I was in college.
Anyways, if this excerpt from the book isn’t enough to convince you what a piece of garbage it is, maybe the
40+ reviews posted earlier than mine will.

Guided Tour of XML Tech
If terms like "the new web" and acronyms like RSS, SOAP and SMIL are showing up on your "need to know" radar screen with increasing frequency; if you’re not quite sure what the alphabet soup is all about and haven’t a clue where to begin; if you’ve heard the XML hype but aren’t certain what, if anything, it has to offer you, this book is for you.

Written in the signature tongue-in-cheek "For Dummies" style, "XML for Dummies" guides the reader on a tour of XML and its satellites. It covers the basics in enough depth for you to grasp its power and possibilities without overwhelming with too much detail. Its goal is to introduce the reader to the XML family; clarify its parts, their purpose and how they fit together; identify software tools for dealing with these technologies; and provide extensive resources for further education. Its global approach succeeds in these.

XML alone is not difficult. The authors go to some length to lower the intimidation factor by clearly explaining XML basics and following up with an introduction to DTDs, Schemas and XSL(T). They don’t make the mistake of trying to turn a beginner into an XML pro, however, and wisely provide a list of links and books which cover these subjects--which are more complex than XML itself--in depth. The book is extensively cross-referenced, so if you find yourself trying to remember a particular point covered in an earlier chapter, there is sure to be a helpful cross-reference note within the explanatory text.

For the more business-oriented, there are step-by-step instructions on producing XML documents with the MS Office 2003 suite. Those who are primarily web-oriented can skip these sections, however, without any loss of continuity.

I came to the book with a basic understanding of XML and DTDs (though that certainly isn’t necessary), but I had a lot of questions about some of XML’s other aspects: Schemas, XSL(T), XForms, RSS, SOAP, etc. The book answered those questions and gave me a whole list of references for further study. Whether you’re a complete novice or an inquiring mind not sure what aspect of XML to pursue next, "XML for Dummies" offers an accessible on-ramp to the XML highway and a roadmap to help you get where you want to go.

May be useful as a reference
This author seems to have a talent for taking a simple concept that could be explained in a few paragraphs and making an entire chapter out of it. At many points I felt like I was reading a bad term-paper hacked together at the last minute where the student just rambles on about lots of irrelevant factoids to fill up space.

For example: there is a basic XML document giving the recipe for a bean burrito that is used throughout the book which the author seems to revel in re-printing at the beginning of almost EVERY chapter with comments like "You may be getting heart burn from seeing this recipe by now." It’s funny when it’s repeated the first few times but by chapter 15 (if you haven’t pulled your hair out yet) you have memorized the burrito XML document anyway and are getting angry about all the trees that were killed to re-print it 20 times.

Steer clear of this one, there are much better XML books out there.

Excellent Intro to XML
This book makes for a very good intoduction to XML, it points out the basics, and thats all you really need to know, XML is very simple. Most the critics who gave this book low reviews, were looking for a book on XML web services, and such. Please do not expect to learn that from this book.

Buy the 3rd Edition!
Unfortunutely I purchased this book without scanning further for the other volumes of this book.

Great book but too old as it includes no information about Schemas or Web Services. However, the same book title, but the 3rd Edition is worth buying.

Should be Called XML Jargon Instead
The author may know his stuff. In fact, he may know it too well to teach it, as this book is full of terms and acronyms that are used within the text before being fully explained. You’ll find yourself re-reading everything four times, trying to remember the difference between elements and entities, XSL and XML. Clearly the author loves the new technology and wants you to as well, but he doesn’t explain it very well. Get XML Step By Step from MS Press if you want to actually learn this stuff.

Take with a large grain of salt.
If you know absolutely nothing about XML, this book will give you one person’s perspective of the topic landscape, but don’t take it as gospel. Like most other "for Dummies", books this one also lacks competent editing. Direct contradictions can be found within three paragraphs of each other. The Glossary is perfunctory. The web site does not provide errata as advertised. One superficial quick read is all this book deserves and at the lowest "used" book price.