Markup Languages Books

With so few truly useful VRML books on the market, it is lclear that writers are at a premium. While this book was useful in putting the VRML phenomenon into perspective and allowing newbies a glimpse into its programming worth, it was a little shallow on actual content. It would have been nice to get some hardcore coding in while the business is still new. A mark could be made. Sadly, there are too many books of this quality. I recommend this one if you want to know more about where VRML is going, but not if you are a part of that direction.

This is a great book for HTML beginners, it outlines most of the basics in html and shows how to do some cool stuff with lists & tables. This is a good book to have on your shelf for referance, it's also great value for money. The one thing it did lack is extensive examples of posting forms to a file, creating scrollers, changing scrollbar attributes and making the page refresh. 3/5.

A general overview of VBScript. Definately not the best book. If you are used to books like Professional Active Server Pages (Wrox) or JavaScript for the World Wide Web (Peachpit Press), you will be sorely disappointed by this book. One good thing about it is that it gives review questions at the end of every chapter, which I liked, but as far as information goes, it is not the best.

I read through this book very quickly, because I know most of the stuffs. There are couple good examples in this book, which will work. Few samples on the CD do not work.

If you don't have a clue what programming is, DO NOT buy this book.

This book is a massive tome, but its informative contentis much lower than its weight suggests. Part of this isbecause the book pays too little attention to teaching the Perl it uses in its examples; it also comes from the use of other Unix tools like lex and sgmls that most beginners will not recognise. As a beginner's book, it's an exercise in frustration, but those who already know its subject matter should find the examples interesting starting points for their own CGI projects. For a good beginning text, try Thomas Boutell's CGI book (also available from amazon.com).

Reviewer: Budianto

This book is not ideal learning XML. it help you to learn how to develop web applicatin , and keeps many key skills in their own chapters,even if they would be needed together.

I have mixed feelings about this book.

On the one hand, it is easy to read, with a strong sense of humour throughout and a crisp layout.

Yet, on the other, it falls short, I believe, of its presumed goal of being a practical and invaluable reference for Web developers wanting to enhance sites with back-end databases.

The book kicks off with a detailed overview and explanation of XML, moving on through discussions of project management, data modelling, XML design, XML stylesheets, and developing database schemas. These chapters are easily accessible, largely due to the author's humour.

Yet, two concluding chapters are where, I feel, the book falls down - integrating XML with SQL Server 2000, and integrating XML with Java.

The depth of these chapters is visibly lacking, especially when contrasted to the earlier coverage of just what XML is. Indeed, these chapters weigh in at 29 and 19 pages respectively - rather puny when one considers that the title of the book is "XML and SQL".

I wouldn't want to make any unfair assumptions, but it seems to me the author is far more of an "XML guy" than, say, a "database guy" or a "programming guy". Indeed, the back cover credits say he is active on the Advisory Committee of the W3C, and it is clear from the text that he is knowledgeable about XML down to the fine detail of its mandated implementation.

However, there is nothing to give confidence that he is equally a master of SQL and the book is definitely unbalanced in its coverage.

Ultimately, I believe "XML and SQL" holds value as a good-humoured guide to XML and its implementation. It would even serve well as an academic textbook, if supplemented with practical exercises.

Unfortunately, though, I do not believe it serves professional programmers well.

Synopsis:

At this point, when considering purchasing this book, I'd say get a real reference if you want to learn PHP, or if you need a big function reference off-line, then install the help that comes with PHP or just use php.net on-line. This book might be marginally okay for bathroom reading, but otherwise, it really needs to be updated. The reference only covers through PHP 4 which is now unsupported. The way things are done in PHP 5 have changed enough that it's time to deprecate this resource.

Details:

I've owned this pocket reference since it was published in '02 and put it away when I switched to Perl as my primary language in '04 till this year. Now that I'm back to PHP again, I'm reminded of how annoying it is to use this book. The tips at the front of the book are good, but the function reference is difficult to use at best. I'm terribly surprised that O'Reilly hasn't worked with Mr. Lerdorf for a new version. I own lots of O'Reilly materials, many of them pocket references. I don't believe this is up to O'Reilly standards for pocket references. If given a chance to review a new version of this reference, I'd push hard for significant changes, especially to formatting. Other reviewers correctly identified issues with function descriptions. There are times when a pocket reference like this deserves to skip descriptions when the description doesn't add any value to what's already obvious.

Hit(s):

o Contains basic PHP syntax information

Miss(es):

o The latest PHP version covered in this book is no longer supported
o Function listing is grouped in a manner that doesn't make sense to most readers
o Function descriptions are often worthless

it seems like a handy thing and all but if you have an internet connection open when you code (presumably, since you're doing web development), the php.net documentation is much more helpful... not sure why anybody would use this. not even sure why i really bought this. i guess it looks good with all of the other little o'reilly guides that i own but it really was a waste of 5 dollars...

This is a very good small concise reference to PHP 4. Most of the book consists of a summary of the basics of the PHP language plus a function reference to about 1400 PHP functions. If you are in need of a handy reference to PHP 4, this pocket reference would be an excellent companion for "Programming PHP" (which is a fuller reference to PHP and is also published by O'Reilly).

I would not get this pocket reference unless you are already somewhat familiar with PHP and already own "Programming PHP" (or rough equivalent). This book, though well written, is not designed as an introduction to PHP. Oh, and you need to be OK with it not covering PHP 5.

If you want more detail, you could take a look at my somewhat longer review on the Oakland Perl Mongers site.

George Woolley of Oakland.pm and Camelot.pm

What went wrong? I have many of the O'Reilly pocket references and I bought this one on the assumption it would measure up to the others. It doesn't.

Starts out promising but once it reaches page 34 the remainder is unorganize junk with no examples, no hint of what you would use it for.

Shame on O'Reilly for putting this out under their name; they have done their faithful customers who buy on their name's reputation a disservice.

You need a no stars category for this book!

O'Reilly must sell a ton of these. Why not get a new author willing to do a good job of updating and improving. We all owe Lerdorf a lot for starting PHP in the first place. Having said that, O'Reilly needs to get an author who can update this and make it a useful reference. PHP is now on version 5.2 and this book is on version 4. It is nearly useless. I try to use this book from time to time, but never seem to find the information I need. Ie: Each function in the reference section needs at least two sentences of explanation, not a half sentence.

PHP needs a couple of good current reference books. Where are they?

Definitely this book is for those who dont wanna know XML, it contains nothing.

I have read books about HTML, JavaScript, C++ and honestly THIS BOOK IS THE WORST that I have ever read! I wanted to learn some XML from this book, it starts talking about its capabilities, use, implementation, functionality, examples, examples, blah, blah, blah... zzzzz.
If you want to learn how to use XML take my advice, do not consider this book. However, if you know XML this book has examples of how can XML be implemented, though I think it is not worth its price.

You'll spend most of your time waiting for something to happen. There is essentially no connection between the CD-ROM and the text.

Others have already said it better than I, so I'll keep this short:

* not enough information to be useful

* poor presentation of the details

* it only babbles on and on about how great XML is, without telling you anything about any pitfalls or, for example, the shortcomings of DTDs.

Charles Goldfarb should actually look at these books, before lending his name to them.

If you want the real deal, go with the Wrox Press book: Professional XML. Sure, it's big, weighs a ton, and you'll probably never need to look at more than a third of it, but I swear even just the first 4 chapters are worth the price of the entire book!

I was greatly disappointed with the contents of this book and above all after learning that the editor is the one who invented SGML(Mother of XML)...they should think a hundred times before writing this kinda books. Please stop circulating this book in the market. Why are you people giving wrong information to people???

I am presently using this book as a recommended text in an HTML college class. It is not the primary text, but I am CONSTANTLY referring to it because it is so thorough. I recommend it for anyone who is SERIOUS about learning HTML in depth.

This book is a great book for those just starting out, and for those who want a reference guide to HTML.

I have used this refernce guide for a year exclusively, for its easy to read format and quick to find index. I highky suggest this to all.

This is an excellent book for those who want to learn HTML without using an Editor. This is an excellent book for those who are dedicated to learning HTML properly. Most of the people I talked to that did not like this book were the type of people that thought it was just easier to use FrontPage. While this is true, they are missing the point. This is an excellent book to teach HTML as well as use as a reference guide after you have learned HTML.

This book came HIGHLY recommended and I have to admit I'm completely disappointed. If I hadn't opened the CD I'd return it. Tries to touch on everything but leaves you with an understanding of nothing. Makes the simplest things very complicated. I bought SAMS Teach Yourself HTML in 24 Hours ($20.00, 450 pages, paperback) prior to this purchase and find myself referencing that book because LeMay either covers the topic in such a disjointed manner or doesn't cover it at all. Buy a less expensive book. This one just isn't worth it.