Markup Languages Books

I have always been an advocate of the O'Reilly line of "...In a Nutshell" books but Sybex has tipped the scale. HTML Complete is a COMPLETE collection of markup that is easy to referrence when needed. The book is an easy (although long) read packed full of tips and tricks. Most importantly, the 1,000 page collection is under $20! Amazing.

This book is light weight and very portable in the briefcase. I take it everywhere I might need to deal with the web. Very user friendly with comprehensive index to find information. It covers practically all topics regarding excellent web technologies (including perl, unix and CGI and xml) with comprehensive definitions to make the not-so-technical individuals grab an instant understanding . Brilliant HTML and CSS reference for people who don't have much time to spend hours finding quick solutions for front end coding.

HTML Complete teaches the essentials that every Web Designer should know, both beginner and expert alike. For experts it serves as a great reference book.

Beginners will find themselves interested in HTML instantly. HTML Complete breaks passed the boundary of teaching programming through text. It comes off as more of a teacher than a text book - just like it should be.

Later on other topics such as Perl, ASP, Java, and much more are introduced after a significant portion of HTML is covered. While those topics are left in the dark, they do not hinder the overall feel of the book and the knowledge it shares.

I bought this book at a local bookstore and it's one of the best computer books I've purchased. It starts from the beginnings of HTML, covers CSS and everthing inbetween, and finishes with an introduction to advanced HTML. There are also numerous reference tables (color, tags) for the more experienced web designer.

This book is not bad, but by the author's own admission, much of what is being explained is deprecated. The book is quite good at telling you what NOT to use, but keeps referring the reader to Chapt 16 (CSS). Unfortunately the CSS chapter does not show all the correct ways to implement the deprecated features (use of justification - left, right, center - in tables, for example).

One nice feature in the book was the "Widely Supported" yes/no indicator for HTML syntax in the Appendix A.

I think the author should have spent more time on non-deprecated usage of HTML and CSS, instead of saying "Here's how to do this, but don't do it this way." This book is probably useful to someone who is trying to READ older HTML code, but is not so useful for someone trying to write new HTML code.

In summary, although it has useful information surrounding the use of HTML, this book should probably be re-titled to "HTML Deprecated", or "Reading Deprecated HTML Code", or alternatively needs a much-expanded section on use of CSS.

This is what other O'Reilly Pocket References should be. It contains everything and should replace all non-design-oriented HTML books

FYI: the IMG tag is only missing from the first printing. (I asked O'Reilly.) Indeed, a recent copy of the book is not missing it anymore. (Back of the title page, bottom right corner has a date: [11/04]. My other copy, which is missing IMG, has [6/02] in this spot.) A quick check shows that they have fixed some, but not all, of the errata (http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/htmlpr2/errata/).

But this book is still totally worth having. It's small enough to leave lying around the desktop, where its big brother (Definitive Guide) would get in the way (not to mention distort gravity from its sheer mass). If you're reading this review, you obviously feel you could use a quick reference to HTML. This is it.

They lowered the price, too: These things used to cost 12.95. Now, 9.95. "Buy It Now!"

There may be a few errors, like the missing tag, but the errata list on the O'Reilly site has the information posted. The rest of the book is so good that I'm fine with plugging in the missing information myself. I love how it's set up as one big alphabetical list of tags. It makes it so easy to find what you want. I have been using it lately to check tags for browser compatibility. Saves so much time to quick turn to a page in this small book, rather than search big books or websites for compatibility info!

If you are designing web pages, you must have this book. That is all there is to it.

This is a small compact reference book (hence the title) which lists the HTML tags in alphabetical order, shows if they are supported by the three major browsers (IE,NN,Opera) and if they are part of the w3c spec HTML 4.01. Information is given for the applicable attributes for each tag.

Once you know it (especially if you follow w3c standards) HTML is a simple and easy language to use.. however, having a easy to use reference comes in handy quite frequently, especially when starting up a new site.

This will not be the only reference you need.. no book can claim that. Though everybody who designs websites should have this book, those new to HTML may find it the most helpful most frequently. However, this book will NOT teach you HTML. It is a reference.. nothing more.

as mentioned in other reviews.. the IMG tag is missing, which is a major flaw, but not major enough to take away from the greatness of this book.

In short.. get it.

I am generally a fan of Pocket References. But this one seems poorly debugged. One example is claiming "align" is deprecated for . Turns out, this bug has made it onto the Errata page for the book

http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/htmlpr2/errata/ ,

but only under "Unconfirmed error reports and comments from readers." If you write a buggy book, at least do the work to confirm bugs and fix them in new printings!

I really like this book. The format of each technique demonstrated is

Problem- Solution- Discussion

The nice thing is that you can get a quick explanation from the solution, and a more in depth response in the discussion. The author presents complete code which is easily built upon and customized.

I knew a bit of Javascript when I started, but I think this would be an excellent book even for a complete beginner.

Like most web developers, I typically will reach for one of the many JS libraries when it comes time to add client-side enhancements to my web applications. This is usually the obvious choice for the sake of saving time on projects, and keeping costs down... but quite often, many libraries are simply overkill for a simple little js/dhtml enhancement.

As such, that is what lead me to this book. I was hoping the cookbook format would give me some fresh ideas on doing some simple js/dhtml work and it most definitively delivered.

Perhaps the most valuable parts of this book for me were the aspects of working on the DOM. Additionally, I always enjoy reading different techniques for dealing with client-side form validation.

To me the coverage on loading dynamic data/ajax was good, but I still think that when entering into that realm of JS, it is usually time to deploy one of the libraries I mentioned earlier.

All in all this has become a valuable resource that I often refer to during my daily work.

I wouldn't buy this book if you are going for aesthetics for you website. I wouldn't buy it if you are a heavy programmer either. Its a good "middle" book for just general roll overs, browser detections, and other javascript functions for form validation. Its a little small.

I still have the first edition of this book but other than perhaps missing the chapters on ajax it's not outdated at all. This book has saved my life several times already. Almost every time I am looking to solve a tricky problem in javascript, I find that this book contains a well explained chapter with the exact solution that I was looking for. The authors often make a point of going through multiple iterations of a solution, to demonstrate what needs to be modified to support certain browsers, and at the same time ensure that the reader actually understands the code too.

This is a great book for experienced javascript developers who want to save time by using tried and tested code to solve common problems, but at the same time understand that code too.

The book doesn't go in-depth in it's explainations. It is written more for the seasoned script writer and not the beginner. I found it very confusing and not enough detail to be of any use to me. I preferred "Javascript, Demystified".

This book does its stated purpose very well. Not too indepth, not too shallow. Find a property, check it out, and back to work.

Probably a good reference if you already know CSS.
Not useful if you're learning CSS from scratch.

Developing accessible, standards-based websites that work and look properly on everyone's screen (I'm looking at you, IE) can be a real struggle sometimes, but this book has been a life saver for me. Having the book at my desk and being able to quickly look up this syntax or that modifier is extremely helpful. I can't recommend this book more for anyone who does a lot of web development and is just looking for a quick, to the point reference guide.

You know CSS, but you are not using it every day thus not remember every single attribute and specific syntax for every style there is?

You are like me and you will appreciate this little helper. It is very compact and filled with every CSS 2.0 style there is.

It also shows which properties and styles are compatible with which Browser. It is up to you if you want to use the latest styles available or rather fall back to the styles and properties that virtually every browser in use today can render correctly.

This is a compact reference for CSS and not meant for people who want to learn CSS. It would make a good addition when you buy a book to learn CSS and get this reference for quick look-ups of the already learned styles.

Not as Handy as It Should Be

I liked the Idea of a quick reference for CSS, because I always struggle with remembering the exact syntax (or confuse them with HTML or JS attributes) or can't recall which properties can be applied to which HTML element. I have to problems with this reference, which makes it for me less effective than I wish it to be.

1) This is not and issue with the content, but the page layout. It wouldn't be too hard to print the chapter and the property that can be found on the page at the top of every page to make scanning of the book easier and reduces the need for a detour to the index.

2) It would have been great if there would have been not only a list of attributes sorted alphabetically, but also a list of HTML elements sorted alphabetically with the information for each of them, which CSS attribute can be applied to it. It makes the book thicker, but you could have compensated that by using thinner paper and use less empty line in the content.

I hope that my suggestions might find it into a future, version of the book, which also incorporated the CSS 3.0 attributes that are supported by some of the latest browsers like Mozilla Firefox.

By the time I was taking my second or third CSS course, this book became a life saver. Even now, 2 years later, this is the one book I cary around with me for syntax.

Mr. Meyer also adds a lot more flavor and discussion than I would expect from a desk reference. Impressive!

I was taking a CIS college course at HVCC in Troy, New York and I had an instructor who was a holdover from the 1950's as far as teaching style was concerned, where they would stand up for several housrs and then assign some off the wall homework assignment that would take forever to do or impossible to do in a reasonable time.

Well, I was unfortunate to get such an instructor. I complained to my chairperson, James Looby, right away to get some help in getting his teachers to do a better job communicating with the class.

Looby promised in an email to me that he would see what he could do to get Frank Zaverl to do a better job showing us how to build simple Web pages. But after many weeks of waiting and waiting, I called and then got a email back from Looby stating that nothing would be done ! at which, I blew up at Looby for his poor handling of a serious classroom problem for which he was being paid by the local taxpayers and student's tuitions to solve. But, this once again, proved to me that there is a code of silence among educators and that is why it is in such a bad shape as polls indicate nationally and internationally !

Then I realized that I had waited too long for the Cavalry to arrive, and I had to drop the course -- which i thought it was an easy course if only taught correctly! that is, for each HTML command an example could be available to show how this HTML command was being used, so a student could begin building confidence with this Web language.

Oh by the way, the book suggested by Zaverl and adopted in his class and which Zaverl was totally gaga over was entitled, "Web Design In a Nutshell" ! which if one looked for a few minutes, has no exmaples and so was really suitable as a reference book, once the student was familiar with the HTML language and syntax.

So, believing that a better text existed in the amrketplace I soon found this book, entitled, "Creating Web Pages with HTML, Simplifed" and sure enough withing days I was up and running and confident in building simple web pages --proving my intial idea that a better book had been already created somewhere where the teaching and thus learning was easy, quick and fun !


In general. I think educators make things purposefully difficult so we continue needing their old systems of learning; but this is simply not good enough in the 21st century -- where other nations are way ahead of America which has lost its way in providing excellent educaiton to its citizens but continues to over tax the local citizenry, each and evey year, which is now even forcing the elderly out of their homes since education is subsidized by local property taxes which is a big curse today with the taxes rising without any proof that this education is par-excellence.

Other nations do not subsidize their eduaction with property taxes and the citizens are very happy about that; and thus the local citizenry do not end up hating their educators and politicians for forcing them to lose their homes just to pay the big education tax every year !

But the Teachers Union knowing how the local taxpayers feel still air ads on TV showing how wonderful things are so citizens will keep on passing local school budgets which are out of control. The Republican solution to the local educaiton mess is to bring in competetion which only raises more local taxes on the homes of thse citizenry. so educaiton has become a vicious circle. Since politicians can't solve the tax problem a 2008 Recession is now hoped to bring sky rocketing educaiton costs under control since homes values are coming down all across the country finally forcing relief in lower taxes on burdened taxpayers.

Gerard J Sagliocca, P.E.
gerard_sagliocca@yahoo.com

this is the most cutest HTML book i've read.Its easy with full details.you won't need another book anymore!! Just Creating Web Pages with HTML will only do!!!

Book was really simple, had my web page started but the end of the second chapter. Great if you have no knowledge, too simle if you have a basic understanding of html.

I wanted to have my company web page re-designed. My host told me he would do it for three thousand. I ordered this book and used it to do my own web site, seven pages and several pictures, for the price of the book that I got for twelve bucks, and twelve hours of time.

The book is very good. Simple to follow instructions will have you up and running in an hour or less.

I purchased this book along with the recommended Teach Yourself Visually HTML.

Each of these books are good books, BUT... you certainly don't need both. You'll see the same things repeated and no new helpful information. The Creating Web Pages with HTML seems a bit more advanced but you can do the same thing with either one of these books. Save yourself some cash and choose one but not both!

I'm sending one back.

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

I love this book because it is a well-written concise reference to HTML. It is also spirally bound so it lays flat to boot. This book contains what you need to know without a lot of superfluous text. It is well-organized and collect important information into summary sections. If you are looking for a quick reference, look no further! Like most Dummies books, however, it is written on inexpensive paper. This isn't a huge drawback, however, since computer books are ancient history very quickly and only useful for starting fires after a few years.

I had new a little html before I got this book but after I got this book my web pages went from looking like something a high school freshman could do after a weekend to something that looks fairly professional I really enjoyed this book and will be getting java for dummies also if it half as good as this one

I love this book! 7 years ago, when I was in high school, I knew nothing about HTML, so I picked up this book. And it really helped me learn fast!

Each of the book's lessons is hands-on, which makes it so much easier to pick up. It teaches you HTML by having you type the codes into the Notepad program, and saving the file as an .html instead of a .txt file. Then, when you open it up, it appears in webpage format, and you can quickly edit and play around with the codes in Notepad to see what kind of different results you get. Actually, even to this day, I still use a Notepad program instead of one of those fancy page-creator programs. I like keepin' it DIY, Old School, baby!

Some of the things the book covers:
- how to use different fonts
- how to put in images
- how to make an image map (so when you click on different parts of the image, you're sent to different links)
- how to create basic tables
- how to create numbered and bulleted lists
- how to make frames

Even though the book won't teach you some of the fancier stuff you see on webpages, like how to use non-bordered tables for layout design, or how to make text change when you roll your mouse cursor over it, it will teach you how to be able to learn those things. Since the book taught me how to view the source code of webpages and how to understand code in the first place, whenever I went to someone's website and saw something cool I liked, I just viewed their source code to see how they were able to do those things. This is all perfectly fine; just DON'T STEAL SOMEONE ELSE'S LAYOUT. Not cool, people. Just see how others do things, and use those techniques to make something of your own design.

Once you learn the basics of HTML, it's easy to pick up that fancy stuff. There's plenty of tutorial sites on the web and thick HTML reference books at the library that'll give you the codes for that. And this book definitely gives you the foundation for learning those things.

This is the first HTML book I bought and it's become my favorite. Not only did I learn how to build a webpage from scratch, I continue to learn new tricks from it every time I dip inside. This is great if you want to learn how to code your pages and not rely on templates. There's also a quick and handy color code guide in the back.

Emacs comes with great documentation, and there is a ton of it on the web. Nevertheless a structured book that is well-designed with great illustrations and examples is priceless. Despite my level of skill with Emacs (I "live in Emacs," using it for all my basic computing tasks), I consult this book regularly. It's a regular part of my Emacs library!

This book covers more than just using the editor: building Emacs from source, the help system, and Emacs Lisp are covered as well. This book is always telling me about things that I didn't know Emacs could do.

Although I have read a few chapters from front-to-back, I mainly use this book as a reference.

It seemed odd to me during my Sophomore year at Penn State that the Computer Science Department wanted me to learn a text editor to do computer programming on UNIX computers. In the business classes students were taught to use an IDE on Windows computers. I remember asking myself why would I be one of the few to learn how to use a text editor to do computer programming when the masses where learning to use a GUI approach. I made up my mind that the computer scientists probably knew more about programming than the business professors, and taking the road less traveled has made all the difference.

While I am no where near a Emacs expert this book has made me into more than just a casual user. Learning how to do the keyboard macros has saved me countless hours of work over the years. Sometimes if I plan on doing a lot of typing for a business document I'll use emacs to get started so I don't have to lift my fingers off the keys, then paste the text into word for formatting.

Using this book to expand my previous knowledge of Emacs has had exponential return on investment. I highly recommend it, to anyone that is trying to learn or wants to improve their emacs skill level.

Most of the Unix/Linux senior level Wizzards that I know use Emacs and swear by it. There are others (vi users especially) who swear at it, but that's another story. Emacs is a huge package and is growing bigger. Although you can consider it a text editor, it's a big, massive package that does a lot more than just edit text.

At the start of the book the authors comment "Many people think that Emacs is an extremely difficult editor to learn. We don't see why." I think the WHY is that most people start with a simpler more fundamental text editor like vi. Then when they think of moving to Emacs their fingers have to un-learn the vi commands to replace them with the Emacs commands. The authors say they don't recommend the vi emulation mode built into Emacs, but fingers sometimes take a long time to un-learn.

If you've just decided to move to Linux, you might want to start with Emacs and never go the vi route. There is no question that Emacs has more power. Comparing to the Microsoft world, I think of vi like NotePad, while Emacs is like Word.

There's an interesting table near the front of the book that asks you what you want to do with Emacs. If you want to write HTML, read Preface and Chapters 1-3 & 8. Then after you are getting some work out of the package, you can go to other chapters as you need them - Chapter 12, for instance to use Emacs to compare files.

About half the book is on 'simple' text editing, where their 'simple' maybe isn't as 'simple' as the rest of us consider 'simple.' I do a lot of SQL, Chapter 9 talks about the editing support for SQL, and for other programming environments like Perl, Lisp, JDEE, etc.

This book is from O'Reilly. O'Reilly does professional quality books for professional programmers. If it's time to learn Emacs, you can't do better than this.

LEARNING GNU EMACS is an introduction to the most powerful text editor ever made, a fully-programmable environment that through contributions from thousands has become something of an operating system in itself. This third edition covers all the new enhancements made in version 21.3.

The book begins with an introduction to Emacs as it : a text editor. It gives basic commands for moving around, describes the look of the user interface, teaches how to search and replace, and how to make simple (and not-so-simple) macros. But Emacs isn't just a simple text editor, it also has extensions to do everything from drawing simple pictures to managing your schedule. In the next portion the book describes among other things Dired, the Emacs file manager, the calendar and diary functions, and how to execute commands from within Emacs.

Since Emacs functions as an integrated-development environment for many programming languages, a fairly large portion of the book focus on how Emacs can help the software developer. Concerning markup languages, this new edition covers the excellent nxml mode for XML documents, and in terms of computer languages it describes modes for C, C++, Java, Perl, SQL, and Lisp. Unfortunately, the Python mode is not discussed. An entire chapter is devoted to Emacs' interface to version control systems like CVS.

The book doesn't aim itself at only a beginner's market. It teaches one already proficient in editing to customize Emacs. At the simplest, this means tinkering with one's "~/.emacs" file, but it also includes using the power of Lisp to change all aspects of Emacs.

This book could only be perfect if it were twice as large as it is now, since Emacs has so much in it. I think it a pity that the book doesn't cover Gnus, a mail and news reader that takes advantage of Emacs' scriptable nature to offer immense configurability and power. In fact, it doesn't cover the popular Mew mail reader or Emacs' limited built-in mail reader at all. Also, the bit on search and replace doesn't give any small intro to regular expressions.

Emacs is not for everyone, and even with a fine book like this some people are not going to like it. But if you are comfortable doing basic editing with Emacs, and want to maximize your efficiency, then LEARNING GNU EMACS can help.

If a person is thinking of learning GNU Emacs, or if they have been using it and are looking to sharpen their skills and broaden their Emacs savvy, it is a fairly safe assumption that the individual is motivated. This person probably knows their way around a command prompt, and it is likely that they are aware that Lisp is more than just a speech impediment. This person needs a book that offers expert advice without wasting time or insulting the intellect of the reader. Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition is that book.

As a programmer, when firing up a monolithic word processor or graphical IDE to edit a simple script or properties file, one cannot help but wonder if these tools aren't overkill much of the time. For a growing number of users, the answer is yes. The tried-and-true text editor is enjoying a renaissance of sorts. One of the most extensible and customizable applications in the text editing category is the venerable GNU Emacs.

The tutorials and documentation for Emacs are abundant, but they often prove time-consuming and ineffective for actually learning Emacs. This book is a refreshing break from the documentation many have come to expect. Imagine you had a consortium of leading experts on Emacs at your disposal to teach you how to use it in a conversational, consultative style. That is what has been bundled into this latest edition of the book.

The extensibility of Emacs has been both a key strength and a criticism of the application. Its user and developer community have created all sorts of additional capabilities for Emacs, ranging from the impressive to the absurd. The authors have done well to judiciously select what to cover in this edition. For example, while Emacs does have the capability to function as an email client, other applications have long superceded its ability. The authors have chosen not to cover this topic, and instead devote the available space to learning Emacs' core functionality - powerful, efficient text editing. Other peripheral areas of Emacs have been left for the user to research after gaining their solid foundation on Emacs as editor and work environment, such as compatibility modes for programming languages other than Java and Perl.

This edition of the book uses the space gained by the removal of esoteric topics to flesh out areas of more common interest. Integration with the major version control systems has been expanded to include Subversion alongside of the age-old standards CVS, RCS, and SCCS. Coverage of support for Java and Perl has also improved, as well as sections for editing HTML and XML. Users wanting to tap into the power of Lisp programming for Emacs should find the coverage satisfying as well.

Perhaps the most distinguishing feature of this book is the chapter devoted to the use of Emacs on different platforms. Unix, Windows and Mac OS X users receive equal acknowledgement. The precautions and insights regarding Emacs nuances when used on particular platforms can reduce users' frustration when getting started with Emacs.

Even current Emacs users can benefit from this work. The mnemonic devices and conventions used in the book allow users to commit useful keyboard commands to memory. The memorization is further solidified by the exercises sprinkled appropriately through each chapter. Readers do not go for very many pages before it is time to be at the keyboard again, harnessing the power of muscle memory to reinforce the material presented.

To the person who understands Html, what uploading files to a server is and the ins and outs of the lingo, it is perfect. But...if you are in fact a stranger to html, have no idea what acronyms mean, take a course. This book assumes that you are already involved in web page design of some kind. It is not nearly as thorough as it should be. To me if you are teaching a completely clueless person you need to hold their hands through every facet and put a generous sprinkling of tutorials in. This book does neither. I tested it out on 4 completely clueless people and they remained that way, gave it back to me and asked me to write their web pages for them.

Very basic info, I am not sure I would want to publish a web page I created only using this information.

This is a truly great find for the beginner. the book is a true teaching tool. well planned curriculum providing everything to make a premier first time web page. This book is not a Teaser.

This is a great book!!! The author does a great job explaining what each tag does and also shows examples in the book. If you read this book starting on Friday, you will be able to construct a webpage on Sunday. My advise in regard to using this book as a guide is to type all the examples from the book into notepad and see how it comes out as you read the book. That way you'll have an easier time remembering some of the code when you create your webpage on Sunday (you can also use the book as a reference when creating your first webpage). If you already know basic HTML, then skip this book and purchase a book that goes more in-depth in regard to HTML such as a Sam's book(I just ordered the Sam's HTML & XML book, but I have not gotten it yet).

The best thing about this book for me was that it helped me toplan and organize how I wanted to design my page. It's a lot more thanjust how to go about making the web page. It also teaches you to know what you want and how you want to organize it...

as stated in previous reviews, some of the material is outdated, even in the 2nd edition. i prefer the 1st edition, which is an absolute must for web professionals. teaches essential design skills using a colorful, example-based approach. my copy is worn ragged from overuse!

I have used my book soo much it is falling apart. Mostly filled with javascript, tips and tricks...which is what makes a web page interactive and look professional. Super easy to read and understand and great online support...I've emailed Raymond Pirouz personally with questions and he responed quickly. Very impressed. I highly highly recommend this book!!!

The tips and tricks are basically for version 3 and 4 browsers (well look at the publication date...) so if you are looking for the very latest DHTML techniques, look elsewhere. However if you want to learn the standard backwards-compatible layout techniques that most sites still use, such as table layouts, frames, IMG tag tricks, you can't do much better than this excellent book. The only glaring thing missing is an index - but that seems to be an unfortunate "feature" of all the Magic books. If you are a web designer just starting out, and you want to advance beyond basic HTML without having to invest in a WYSIWYG editor, this book is for you.

Really it is. I bought the book based on the numerous complimentary reviews, but as I have been going through it I have found virtually no new or unique tips or tricks - and I am not some stellar programmer. I think it is a good book for people who are creating their first web page and don't want it to look terrible. To be a sport I will say that my mopst used "tips and tricks" kind of book is HTML Artistry: More Than Code.

I purchased this book based on the outstanding reviews listed here, however, I was really disappointed when the book arrived. First of all, the books should be renamed Tips and Tricks with Javascripting, as most of the examples use javascripting and not HTML. I found a number of the links examples to be expired. Many of the tricks mentioned have been rendered useless by the advent of Dreamweaver 3. If you are looking for Web design books, choose another, there are plenty of them out there. If you are looking for HTML tricks save your money and use the numerous web sites that offer these.

While I've understood the basics of XML for some time, I've just not had a need until recently to dig into the nuts and bolts of working with it on the .NET platform. As an ASP.NET developer specifically, and with that need to know now on the table, I went on the hunt for books to help, and Mr. Wahlin's offering was an obvious choice.

First off, Mr. Wahlin is a terrific writer. The clear, friendly, and conversational tone of the book resonated for me, although I did find some of the verbosity and repetition a bit excessive in some spots.

The book begins with a good review of XML concepts, more than enough for a newbie, but easy to sift through for the more seasoned reader in need of a knowledge refresher. It continues through all the necessary concepts, including the XML classes in .NET, transformations, and of course, ADO.NET, the database core of the .NET platform. (On ADO.NET, it includes a general introduction, but of course focuses on it in an XML context.)

I have to say that one of the best outcomes of reading the book and experimenting with what I learned along the way is that many of the ADO.NET concepts that still seemed abstract to my not-quite-up-to-OOP brain suddenly fell into place and made much more sense to me when tied to the structures and concepts of XML.

No book is perfect, and I could have used some more detailed coverage in some areas. But overall, it's a great walk through the world of XML for the seasoned ASP.NET developer in need the grand tour. It sure was a help to me...

I just bought this book. But I don't know where to download the example code? Please help me.

Dan Wahlin is one of the top experts on XML, and this book is absolutely fantastic. Almost every question that I have ever had about working with XML and .NET has been answered... except that I don't use C#. So, I always need a translator.

If you use C#, this is the perfect book. If you don't, learn to translate from it, cuz this is the best book around.

This book does a good job explaining the ins and outs of XML programming with the .Net Framework.

These are the types of books you need to look for. Take a small part of the .Net framework and give it a decent amount of coverage. Overall, the examples are fairly substantial and apply very well to real world programming situations.

I bought the book a month ago and stayed idle in my library until I started using SQL2000 Web Notifications and needed some extra help on the principles.

And that was it. I can only tell you that it kept me reading it for three consequtive days, enough time to keep myself going, understand may parts, realise many possibilities/options and even optimise some code. This is not a book to solve a particular problem but it is a book to get you all excited about XML/XSLT/XLink/XPath and realise how this have been integrated to many of Microsoft Applications... (Notifications is one, CS2002 another).

I regret that I havent had that book before hand. It would have saved me many more hours of searching.

The only minus is that it makes you so excited that you end up spending another couple $$$ on other books to get into more details so I just shopped...
1 of: XPath and XPointer
1 of: Applied Microsoft .NET Framework Programming
1 of: XSLT and XPath On The Edge, Unlimited Edition
1 of: XSLT Programmer's Reference 2nd Edition

couple this with Professinal C# (2nd Edition) or even Beginning C# and you can do most things imaginable with c# and XML.

Thank you Dan.