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Added 15 Sep 06 Updated 08 Jan 09
Publisher O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Publication Date 2006-12-08
Paperback - 479 Pages
ISBN 059610149X
The book begins with an overview of XML and its uses, and goes on to explain how to parse XML by using the Simple API for XML (SAX 2). Next, there is coverage of how XML is validated by using Document Type Definitions (DTDs) and XML Schema, and transformed by using eXtensible Stylesheet Language (XSL). Brief coverage of Sun’s Java API for XML is followed by a detailed look at the Java Document Object Model (JDOM), a new API devised by the author in association with O’Reilly, the publisher.
The last part of the book is more advanced, and covers applications of XML and Java. There are chapters on Web-publishing frameworks, XML Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs), using XML to read and write configuration data, and generating XML with Java. There is also a short business-to-business example. Appendices provide an API reference to the various specifications discussed in the book.
The strengths of Java and XML include the author’s deep knowledge of his subject, and a writing style that is both clear and enthusiastic. If you happen to know a lot about Java and not much about XML, this is the ideal title. Readers who already have a good grasp of XML basics might be frustrated by the amount of introductory material. --Tim Anderson
developers want to build modern web applications. Because both languages
are platform independent, they are ubiquitous in the world of web
development, and the combination of the two allows enterprises to lower the
costs of information sharing for e-commerce and other high-octane web
applications and services.
Our third edition of Java & XML is ideal for any Java developer who wants
to take advantage of XML without having to become an expert on the markup
language. So, unlike other XML titles, this book is written from a Java
developer’s point of view, and assumes no prior knowledge of XML. The new
edition has been thoroughly revised with coverage of Java 5.0 as well as
new standards for SOAP, a key web services technology that works with XML
and provides a central part of Microsoft’s .NET platform.
developer who wants to take advantage of XML without having to become an
expert on the markup language. So, unlike other XML titles, this book is
written from a Java developer’s point of view, and assumes no prior
knowledge of XML. The new edition has been thoroughly revised with coverage
of Java 5.0 as well as new standards for SOAP, a key web services
technology that works with XML and provides a central part of Microsoft’s
.NET platform.
Justin Edelson has been a software developer for over ten years, specializing in web development for media and entertainment companies. He has contributed extensively to high-profile web sites and applications for brands such as MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, Showtime, The Movie Channel, Spike TV, Nickelodeon, and MSN. Recently he has been instrumental to MTV Networks’ wide-ranging suite of mobile products, which includes messaging, ringtones, wallpapers, games, and mobile video channels, in partnership with all major U.S. carriers.
Java and XML, 3rd Edition, shows you how to cut through all the hype about XML and put it to work. It teaches you how to use the APIs, tools, and tricks of XML to build real-world applications. The result is a new approach to managing information that touches everything from configuration files to web sites.
After two chapters on XML basics, including XPath, XSL, DTDs, and XML Schema, the rest of the book focuses on using XML from your Java applications. This third edition of Java and XML covers all major Java XML processing libraries, including full coverage of the SAX, DOM, StAX, JDOM, and dom4j APIs as well as the latest version of the Java API for XML Processing (JAXP) and Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB). The chapters on web technology have been entirely rewritten to focus on the today’s most relevant topics: syndicating content with RSS and creating Web 2.0 applications. You’ll learn how to create, read, and modify RSS feeds for syndicated content and use XML to power the next generation of websites with Ajax and Adobe Flash.
Topics include:
- The basics of XML, including DTDs, namespaces, XML Schema, XPath, and Transformations
- The SAX API, including all handlers, filters, and writers
- The DOM API, including DOM Level 2, Level 3, and the DOM HTML module
- The JDOM API, including the core and a look at XPath support
- The StAX API, including StAX factories, producing documents and XMLPull
- Data Binding with JAXB, using the new JAXB 2.0 annotations
- Web syndication and podcasting with RSS
- XML on the Presentation Layer, paying attention to Ajax and Flash applications
If you are developing with Java and need to use XML, or think that you will be in the future; if you’re involved in the new peer-to-peer movement, messaging, or web services; or if you’re developing software for electronic commerce, Java and XML will be an indispensable companion.
- The basics of XML, including DTDs, namespaces, XML Schema, XPath, and Transformations
- The SAX API, including all handlers, filters, and writers
- The DOM API, including DOM Level 2, Level 3, and the DOM HTML module
- The JDOM API, including the core and a look at XPath support
- The StAX API, including StAX factories, producing documents and XMLPull
- Data Binding with JAXB, using the new JAXB 2.0 annotations
- Web syndication and podcasting with RSS
- XML on the Presentation Layer, paying attention to Ajax and Flash applications
The book begins with an overview of XML and its uses, and goes on to explain how to parse XML using SAX 2 (the Simple API for XML). Next there is coverage of how XML is validated using DTDs (Document Type Definitions) and XML Schema, and transformed using XSL (Extensible Stylesheet Language). Brief coverage of Sun’s Java API for XML is followed by a detailed look at JDOM (Java Document Object Model), a new API devised by the author in association with O’Reilly, the publisher.
The last part of the book is more advanced, and covers applications of XML and Java. There are chapters on Web-publishing frameworks, XML RPC (Remote Procedure Calls), using XML to read and write configuration data and generating XML with Java. There is also a short business-to-business example. Appendices provide an API reference to the various specifications discussed in the book.
The strengths of Java and XML include the author’s deep knowledge of his subject and a writing style that is both clear and enthusiastic. If you happen to know a lot about Java and not much about XML, this is the ideal title. Those who already have a good grasp of XML basics may be frustrated by the amount of introductory material. --Tim Anderson
The book begins with an overview of XML and its uses, and goes on to explain how to parse XML by using the Simple API for XML (SAX 2). Next, there is coverage of how XML is validated by using Document Type Definitions (DTDs) and XML Schema, and transformed by using eXtensible Stylesheet Language (XSL). Brief coverage of Sun’s Java API for XML is followed by a detailed look at the Java Document Object Model (JDOM), a new API devised by the author in association with O’Reilly, the publisher.
The last part of the book is more advanced, and covers applications of XML and Java. There are chapters on Web-publishing frameworks, XML Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs), using XML to read and write configuration data, and generating XML with Java. There is also a short business-to-business example. Appendices provide an API reference to the various specifications discussed in the book.
The strengths of Java and XML include the author’s deep knowledge of his subject, and a writing style that is both clear and enthusiastic. If you happen to know a lot about Java and not much about XML, this is the ideal title. Readers who already have a good grasp of XML basics might be frustrated by the amount of introductory material. --Tim Anderson
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- You have to do an awful lot of work downloading stuff. Why these days there can’t be maven scripts to download jar dependencies in download is beyond me.
- Ch2: P34:There’s a glib statements about xmllint in the area of validating a xml document against an xsd. Quote: "Errors are reported and you can easily fix them". I didn’t find this to be the case! I couldn’t fathom the error it spewed out and Googling didn’t show me an obvious answer either.
- Ch3:We come on to a SAX example. Once again no script to compile/run/get jars. So I knock one up. Then find I can’t get example to compile because of missing class. So I think. Have the jars changed. No I eventually find via Googling an errata reference that this class is covered in next chapter!
So I go and look for it in source download and guess what. It’s not there.
If there is one thing that drives me crazy. It’s forward references in books. Even worse unmentioned ones. Source should have comment and download should be complete.
- Early chapters also were describing the makeup of xml documents. It would be good it this had been included in download too. Very sloppy packaging guys.
- I’ll post back once I get further on and have typed in the code for ch4.
- But I hate what I’ve seen so far.
- I bought this book based on Steven Haines recommendation to becoming an Enterprise Java Developer over in his articles on Informit. He has been on the money with most of his recommendations. But with this one something is very awry. There must be a better alternative out there!
Copre le varie API disponibili per JAVA per gestire file XML: SAX, DOM, JAXP, StAX, JDOM, dom4j. Inoltre vengono trattati anche alcuni argomenti avanzati, utili per apprendere al meglio l’uso di queste API.
Il libro e’ colmo di codice ed e’ proprio il codice ad essere utilizzato come strumento didattico. Codice e diagrammi UML riempiono tutte le pagine.
E’ un libro molto pratico, rivolto ai programmatori. E’ necessario avere una piccola infarinatura riguardo l’XML: viene trattato brevemente nei primi capitoli.
E’ consigliato a chi ama libri con un approccio pragmatico.
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I must admit I’m very disappointed with O’Reilly as of late. Their books are going down hill rapidly, and I find I’m looking at other publishers (APress) much more often. I used to go to O’Reilly’s website almost daily to see what is coming out next, but now I’m considering removing the Ora bookmark from my browser because of lack of use and to create space for other URLs.
I really wish O’Reilly would get their act together and start publishing some well written and well edited books again.
McLaughlin and Justin Edelson, begin with the basics of XML. Then, the authors cover three ways of defining the structure of XML documents. Next, they introduce the Simple API for XML (SAX). They also cover less-used, but still powerful items in the API. The authors continue by covering DOM basics. Then, they discuss the various Level 2 and Level 3 DOM modules like Traversal, Range, Events, Style, HTML, Load and Save, and Validation. Next, the authors examine the Java API for XML Processing. In addition, they also show you how to SAX and how it compares to both SAX and DOM. They continue by examining JDOM, a Java-specific object model API. Then, the authors examine another Java-specific object model API, dom4j. Next, they cover JAXB 1.0 and 2.0, as well as the general basics of data binding. Furthermore, the authors show you how to syndicate content. They continue by looking at a variety of techniques for using XML in the presentation, or visual portion of web applications. Finally, the authors provide some brief overview of technologies not covered in depth in this book.
This most excellent book shows you how to use the APIs, tools, and tricks of XML to build real world applications. Perhaps more importantly, this book offers a new approach to managing information that touches everything from configuration files to web sites.
For example the chapter about DOM objects was not updated to include information about recent api releases. So when the book says there is no simple way to serialize a DOM object, that simply is no longer true. You can now do it with the JAXP api.
The book has other problems as well. For example, the section that describes the difference between XSL and XSLT is extremely misleading and not helpful at all.
This is one of the few books that I intend to return
The 2nd edition has 509 pages and the 3rd edition has 465 pages. I am glad O’Reilly is saving trees but I purchase my books for subject matter and information. I think the next editions should have more pages not less.
A note for Brett & Justin: Please add the missing chapters back and you will have a good book, again. (Brett did Justin ask you to remove the chapters?)
I am returning this edition. (Never returned a book before)
Being able to work effectively with XML is getting to be nearly a requirement for a Java developer. The book Java and XML (3rd Edition) by Brett D. McLaughlin and Justin Edelson focuses specifically on the relationship between those two technologies, as well as what options are available for parsing an XML file.
Contents:
Introduction; Constraints; SAX; Advanced SAX; DOM; DOM Modules; JAXP; Pull Parsing with StAX; JDOM; dom4j; Data Binding with JAXB; Content Syndication with RSS; XML As Presentation; Looking Forward; Appendix - SAX Features and Properties; Index
SAX and DOM parsers have entirely different approaches and uses when it comes to reading an XML file. The book does a good job of explaining those differences, as well as showing coding examples of how those parsing routines would look in Java. The additional coverage of lesser-known parsers like StAX is also appreciated, as you may not always have the choice of which methodology and API you’d like to use. I felt that the combination of code samples and diagrams of hierarchies was done well, and anyone with a good background with Java and XML would have no problem going forward from here. The only part of the book I felt could have been left out, strangely enough, was the introduction and constraints chapter. The book is not a complete introduction to either Java or XML (nor did I expect it to be). If you come in with the prerequisite knowledge I think you’d need, the first two chapters are unnecessary. And if you come in as a complete beginner to both subjects, the chapters don’t go into nearly enough detail for you to proceed. While it seems "proper" to have introductory material in a book, in this case I think you could have left those out entirely and just jumped right in to the parser material.
Nitpicking on the first two chapters aside, this is definitely a book that the Java/XML developer will find useful. Most of what you’ll need to know can be found here...
Being able to work effectively with XML is getting to be nearly a requirement for a Java developer. The book Java and XML (3rd Edition) by Brett D. McLaughlin and Justin Edelson focuses specifically on the relationship between those two technologies, as well as what options are available for parsing an XML file.
Contents:
Introduction; Constraints; SAX; Advanced SAX; DOM; DOM Modules; JAXP; Pull Parsing with StAX; JDOM; dom4j; Data Binding with JAXB; Content Syndication with RSS; XML As Presentation; Looking Forward; Appendix - SAX Features and Properties; Index
SAX and DOM parsers have entirely different approaches and uses when it comes to reading an XML file. The book does a good job of explaining those differences, as well as showing coding examples of how those parsing routines would look in Java. The additional coverage of lesser-known parsers like StAX is also appreciated, as you may not always have the choice of which methodology and API you’d like to use. I felt that the combination of code samples and diagrams of hierarchies was done well, and anyone with a good background with Java and XML would have no problem going forward from here. The only part of the book I felt could have been left out, strangely enough, was the introduction and constraints chapter. The book is not a complete introduction to either Java or XML (nor did I expect it to be). If you come in with the prerequisite knowledge I think you’d need, the first two chapters are unnecessary. And if you come in as a complete beginner to both subjects, the chapters don’t go into nearly enough detail for you to proceed. While it seems "proper" to have introductory material in a book, in this case I think you could have left those out entirely and just jumped right in to the parser material.
Nitpicking on the first two chapters aside, this is definitely a book that the Java/XML developer will find useful. Most of what you’ll need to know can be found here...
Chapter 1, Introduction, begins with the basics of XML. If you’ve never used XML before, this chapter will give you all the information you need to proceed with the remainder of the chapters. It briefly touches on the changes between XML 1.0 and 1.1 before introducing XSLT and XPath.
Chapter 2, Constraints, covers three ways of defining the structure of XML documents: DTDs, W3C XML Schemas, and RELAX NG schemas. It covers how to use these standards to define a structure and how to ensure that a document matches that definition. You’ll also learn how to convert between the various constraint document types.
Chapter 3, SAX, the Simple API for XML (SAX), the first Java API for handling XML mentioned, is introduced in this chapter. The parsing lifecycle is detailed, and the events that can be caught by SAX and used by developers are demonstrated.
Chapter 4, Advanced SAX, covers less-used but still powerful items in the API. You’ll learn how to use SAX features and properties to alter the behavior of the SAX parser, use XML filters to chain callback behavior, use XML writers to output XML with SAX, and look at some of the less commonly used SAX handlers like LexicalHandler and DeclHandler.
Chapter 5, DOM, moves forward through the XML landscape to the next Java and XML API, the Document Object Model (DOM). You learn DOM basics, find out what is in the current specification (DOM Level 3), and how to read and write DOM trees.
Chapter 6, DOM Modules, is about the various Level 2 and Level 3 DOM modules like Traversal, Range, Events, Style, HTML, Load and Save, and Validation.
Chapter 7, JAXP, examines the Java API for XML Processing (JAXP), including the XPath and Validation APIs introduced with JAXP 1.3.
Chapter 8, Pull Parsing With StAX, concerns The Streaming API for XML (StAX), which is the newest standard Java XML API. You’ll learn how to use StAX and how it compares to both SAX and DOM. There is also a brief look at a precursor to StAX named XMLPull, which is still in use.
Chapter 9, JDOM, examines a Java-specific object model API. It contains complete coverage of the JDOM 1.0 release.
Chapter 10, dom4j, examines another Java-specific object model API, dom4j. You’ll see how it compares to both JDOM and DOM including the features unique to dom4j like its object-orientated transformation API.
Chapter 11, Data Binding with JAXB, talks about how with data binding, your application code does not concern itself with the details of XML documents, only a Java object model. Sun has developed a standard for XML data binding: the Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB). In this chapter, you’ll learn about JAXB 1.0 and 2.0, as well as the general basics of data binding. The chapter also discusses when it is appropriate to use data binding.
Chapter 12, Content Syndication with RSS, covers using XML documents to syndicate content. Specifically, the RSS standards are examined along with a brief discussion of Atom. You’ll see how to create and read RSS feeds using APIs discussed in the earlier chapters as well as an RSS-specific API named ROME. You’ll even see how to create your own podcast feed for submission to Apple’s iTunes Podcast directory.
Chapter 13, XML As Presentation, looks at a variety of techniques for using XML in the presentation, or visual, portion of web applications. The chapter shows how XML is a key component of the dynamic web application techniques that are becoming more mainstream.
Chapter 14, Looking Forward, provides some brief overviews of technologies not covered in depth in this book.
Appendix, SAX Features and Properties, details the features and properties available to SAX 2.0 parser implementations.
A good companion to this book is "Processing XML with Java(TM): A Guide to SAX, DOM, JDOM, JAXP, and TrAX" by Elliot Rusty Harold. The book is a little older, so standards have changed, but it does a good job of explaining things at a slower pace than this book. This book is better for the newer standards and applications. If you are working with XML and Java, you should probably have both books.
I bought Java & XML a couple of years ago. I diligently read the first couple of chapters, but then found it unhelpful and put it aside. To find out what SAX and DOM are you have to wade through lots of inconsequential information, only to discover that SAX allows you to parse an XML document on the fly, but doesn’t retain it in memory; whereas DOM keeps the document in memory and allows you to manipulate it. Big deal. I could have worked this out by doing some Google searches.
I am writing this review because I have just picked up my (dusty) copy from the bookshelf in the hope of finding something interesting. I was surprised to see that the first example on SAX actually includes a JTree, even though McLaughlin says to ignore it, it is typical of the book to include something irrelevant and simply confusing. Why doesn’t he just use a simple console example? What he doesn’t say is that the JTree code is really there to make the example longer, so that there are more pages in the book that justify a higher price. You’re not going to spend 45 dollars on a weedly little manual, are you? You want something chunky for your money.
When reading this sort of book, I get the feeling that O’ Reilly, and similar technical publishers, put a lot of effort into inflating their publications into bigger manuals with lots of pages. McLaughlin is obviously an expert, but he is constrained by the O’Reilly house style, which is deliberately conversational and longwinded so that while you feel that it is easy reading, they are really just making it more difficult to learn simple concepts. As I said before they also pepper the pages with unnecessary sections of code.
In my opinion, another two examples are XSLT and XSLT "cooktop": both these O’Reilly manuals could have been condensed into one book by just cutting the waffle.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t enjoy dry, academic journals but at the same time I just wish that these manuals would get to the point quicker .
The author might be a genius, but if you wish to learn XML and it’s usage with Java, please take my advise and stay away from this book.
The book is too verbose and the author in the process, to give him the benefit of doubt, forgot to explain the concepts, and then wandered off to his favorite specialized topics such as JDOM and other usages of XML which may be of interest to just a few readers.
Check out the 2nd edition. It’s actually thinner, and surely much improved. I’ll have to borrow one and see if it’s worth buying. (and I’m pretty optimistic, as Brett obviously knows his stuff!)
Style is good, as far as the book goes.
Coverage is an excellent introduction to DOMs, SAX, Cocoon etc., but it’s lacking on some of the newer topics such as SOAP
You can find more up-to-date information on the web, but if you want it bound in a book, delivered to your desk, and you want it all now then buy this book. If you’ve already sweated through coding to a DOM, then you probably know much of it already.
Style is good, as far as the book goes.
Coverage is an excellent introduction to DOMs, SAX, Cocoon etc., but it’s lacking on some of the newer topics such as SOAP
You can find more up-to-date information on the web, but if you want it bound in a book, delivered to your desk, and you want it all now then buy this book. If you’ve already sweated through coding to a DOM, then you probably know much of it already.
I found that the quality of explanation was patchy, and that whilst some parts were great to read, others needed going over a good few times before they made sense. Perhaps I’m spoiled from having recently read "Enterprise JavaBeans, 2nd Ed." by Richard Monson-Haefel - in my opinion you will be hard pressed to find a more professionally written book on any technnology. In comparison, Bretts prose verges on being needlessly wordy and meandering - you will read sections and instantly think of far simpler and more concise summaries.
All this aside, I did learn a lot about XML, etc. I came to the book as a former Java application programmer, current architect, and XML novice wondering what all the fuss was about. Having read the book, I fully appreciate how XML and the related technologies are useful, and that there is a lot more to it all than I first imagined.
Having said that, I still wonder if all the hype is justified, and question whether or not people are clambering onto the bandwagon for the ride, rather than because they truly know where it’s going.
I found that the quality of explanation was patchy, and that whilst some parts were great to read, others needed going over a good few times before they made sense. Perhaps I’m spoiled from having recently read "Enterprise JavaBeans, 2nd Ed." by Richard Monson-Haefel - in my opinion you will be hard pressed to find a more professionally written book on any technnology. In comparison, Bretts prose verges on being needlessly wordy and meandering - you will read sections and instantly think of far simpler and more concise summaries.
All this aside, I did learn a lot about XML, etc. I came to the book as a former Java application programmer, current architect, and XML novice wondering what all the fuss was about. Having read the book, I fully appreciate how XML and the related technologies are useful, and that there is a lot more to it all than I first imagined.
Having said that, I still wonder if all the hype is justified, and question whether or not people are clambering onto the bandwagon for the ride, rather than because they truly know where it’s going.
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