SGML Books

I bought this book not knowing what to expect, the description promised quite a bit of know-how was contained within. Pleased to say it was well worth it. Prior to getting this book, I'd gotten good with ActionScript and JavaScript but to hook Flash up with any back-end scripting or XML for my clients I've always been calling other people to consult and half the time had to just go with HTML instead.

I always had a fear of any of those 3-letter languages (ASP/PHP) since the few books I'd gotten on them were way to heavy on programming theory and usually lacking on real world examples, and definitely never had an example of how to connect those things to Flash! There's a good sampling of how to effectively use XML with Flash and working through the examples let me finally understand many concepts that previously had been just out of my grasp.

If you are new to coding, and want to learn about the XML objects in Flash, and how they interact with PHP, ASP and Java, this book will more than get you started. Very well commented source code also.

XML in Flash begins by illustrating the basics of XML and the Flash XML Object.

In Part I, Flash is used as a teaching aid as you learn the basics of Flash/XML integration.

Part II covers how Flash works with middleware languages, such as PHP and ASP, as well as performance and optimization. You will also create a Flash message board with a database. Part

III delves into the advantages of XMLSocket. Hands-on projects include creating a stock market ticker to receive XML data from servers. Finally, the appendixes include invaluable reference information on XML, XMLNode objects, and XMLSocket objects, as well as Frequently Asked Questions.

The example applications also illustrate the key concepts necessary for understanding the Flash/XML relationship.

To be fair, I am giving them 3 stars. I purchased this book months ago to get me started with XML in Flash. I have not read the whole book, and gave up rather easily. I am not saying the book is bad, I just wanted to say that if you tell your readers the web site will be an "invaluble resource for learning the ins and outs of using XML in Flash" you might want to offer more than just the source code.

"[URL]will also have message boards and Frequently Asked Questions so you can find quick answers to any questions that need answering."

Please go to the website and look for yourself.

[URL]

The page was last modified 3/25/2002 and here it is months later.

This book is a MUST HAVE if you plan on working with XML within Flash. The book covers all the details of working with ActionScript and XML. I started out with little knowledge of ActionScript and working with the ActionScript associated with Flash's XML objects and methods. The authors explain almost every thing so clearly, that you understand not only how to work with the XML objects and methods, but how to work with ActionScript. I've found that there are quite a few errors that cause things not to work, which kind of bugged. But with my new knowledge was able to correct the bugs. .... I gave it 4 stars because it was enjoyable learning, easy to understand and I was able to do what I wanted...Learn XML in Flash, I would have given it a +5 if the errors wouldn't have been there.

There is a reason you can purchase this book here for around ... For that price you can't go wrong but if you pay more than that you will have wasted your money. If you are new at web design and need a basic understanding of css xml and xhtml it provides that but you could have found that one the web for free.
When I purchase Magic Books I want projects that after I complete I can use. I didn't find them here. This is basic, basic, basic and it doesn't come with a cd.

-Buy and study this book if you want to construct low-key and conventional Web sites of today. The examples and illustrations are presented in a workmanlike fashion and are quite clear.

-Do not buy this book if you want to see current advanced techniques in action and learn the bread-winning skills of tomorrow.

The book is a collaboration of several authors, with content organized into various projects, such as 'Providing Online Customer Support' and 'Setting Up a Storefront.'

The authors get high marks for what they unanimously preached: Build your site upon validated HTML or XHTML; separate structure from presentation through the use of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to control fonts, colors, and layout.

The authors get low marks for what they unanimously practiced: Design your site with nested tables for layout, mocking the spirit of W3C coding recommendations; build to the weaknesses of Netscape 4; use JavaScript to write HTML, vitiating the separation of structure from content; use CSS merely to "spice up" your site, not transform it into sleek, modern efficiency.

The quality of project content was mixed. Holzschlag's 'Managing a Weekly Publication' was a delight to read for its description of the sources of the many compromises one must make with site code. Unfortunately, her project also began the litany of 1-pixel gifs to buttress the shaky edifice of old-fashioned nested tables.

Kuhlman's 'Creating a Complex Community Site' was a strong contribution, with clear instructions for the beginner in setting up an Apache server and using PHP.

Schmitt's projects were less valuable and an exercise in self-aggrandizement. Attend: 'Showcasing a Corporate (his own) Identity' which managed to show how to make a logo in Photoshop without ever really showing it in a lavishly illustrated book; and 'Designing a Great Personal (his own) Site.'

And yes, the book is extremely well illustrated. The organization is a bit confusing since the Table of Contents does not list chapters and each section is a numbered project but the example code files in the book's Web site are named by (non-existing) chapter. One can only guess. Each "chapter's" code must be downloaded separately and is composed almost entirely of code snippets, not whole pages --so you cannot see the code in action-- and these snippets have no listing numbers in the illustrations, so once again, you must open many files to find the code you want.

The authors are acutely aware of the current technology/style discussions and debates. They provide links to the sharpest, most relevant documents and sites. If you are just beginning, the lessons in those links will have you in the thick of it in no time!

I gave this book a 4 rating since it is far better than the average book on WWW site construction and HTML. You may decide I was too generous - or not.

It took me about a week on and off to work my way through XML, HTML, XHTML magic and it was very easy going indeed.

Physically the book is an excellent size and shape, it lies open on the desk without the need for mobile phones and coffee cups to keep it from flapping shut and the layout and colour scheme make for relaxed reading and easy scanning.


The books starts with a chapter on mark-up; HTML, XHTML, XML and CSS. I've read quite a few mark-up books by now and the idea of yet another intro to these disciplines made me grit my teeth a bit, but in actual fact this one is very good - simple, clear and accompanied by a generous amount of code examples.

As with all the chapters this finishes with a section entitled 'More Magic' which lays out tips, guidelines and often further reading for those interested. These sections have some great links to explore.

The book then moves on to discuss the 11 real-world projects which make up the bulk of the content. Each gives: a Project Snapshot outlining the problem; Technical Specs which tell you the mark-up and skills you will be using; Structuring the Site which gives advice on how to lay out the project; and finally the code work itself.

As others have noticed here, it's nice to see Molly and Co pushing W3C standards-compliant work, the more the better. On the other hand it's also nice to see that they too have to break the rules occasionally to achieve a goal. There I was thinking it was just me :o)

The sites the various authors create in the book are visually pretty basic, but they are functional and seem to be excellent starting off points for a project, saving the reader hours and hours trawling around the web trying to find inspiration or coding examples to copy.

The areas I found most useful were the CSS and JavaScript tips - I found quite a few examples of code I'd not seen before but will certainly use in future.
The 'XML for the Wireless Web' project was also something new to me and looked very interesting (if not a bit too complicated to just dabble in).

Also provided is an Index of Techniques, which list (by discipline) the techniques used in the book. This is very useful when referring back to the book with a specific task in mind such as 'Creating Printer-Friendly Pages with CSS'.


One grumble though, which I think others have also noted, is to do with the web site that accompanies the book. There was some initial confusion as to how the files (organised by Chapter) related to the book (organised by Project). In the end I worked out Chapter 1 equates to the Introduction, Chapter 2 to Project 1 and so on. A small thing but confusing at the time when you're keen to push ahead. I raised this issue with Molly and she agreed that the support web site could be altered to make it a bit clearer. This should happen soon :o)

Other weak points were the occasional project which seemed to combine very simplistic work (such as basic work with Frames) and flashes of more advanced JavaScript. 'Showcasing a Corporate Identity' by Christopher Schmitt is one such chapter and I couldn't work out who they were aimed at. Still, this is a book for a wide range of abilities so I guess everyone will find some things too easy and some a challenge.


To sum up, this is a jolly good book covering a wide range of topics. If you wanted to complete only one of the tasks described within then you'd be better off buying a more topic-specific book, but as a book to have in your library to provide a starting point for a range of projects I think it's a worthwhile buy, especially for the less experienced.

The book XML, HTML, XHTML Magic by author Molly E. Holzschlag and contributing authors Martin L. De Vore, Steve Franklin, John Kuhlman, Christopher Schmitt and Jason Cranford Teague promises to deliver eleven examples of how to incorporate current markup languages in real-world projects.

Those projects range from managing news sites, weekly publications, community sites, wireless web applications and community sites to even personal home pages - always referring to the web designer who has to be somewhat familiar with at least HTML, some CSS and problems that serious designers cope with, like cross-platform compatibility.

Always trying to follow the guidelines of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the book succeeds in giving useful hints and tips that even the professional coder might appreciate.

Sitting on a plane back to Dusseldorf, I had enough time to review the eleven projects of the book. Most of the them I found extremely interesting to follow, while it was evident from the beginning that they represent the magic of mixing the different technologies and specifications existing today to get a better and reliable result in the final project. They are taken from real-life, are platform-balanced - it seems to me that half the contributors prefer the Macintosh platform while the other half uses Windows - and so they win a great amount of authenticity.

Every project starts with a short overview of what will happen in the chapter, followed by the technical specs and used technologies that the reader should be somewhat familiar with. Once again, this book is a real-life book for real-life designers. Dealing with hard-coded HTML and pure text editors when editing the code is not only a burden for the designer but more a way to control the results the best way possible - if this is what you think and most importantly if you already work that way, the book is for you, if you fully rely on WYSIWYG editors and think coding HTML by hand has become obsolete you should go elsewhere. That may be a harsh requirement that strikes out some possible readers of the book but in my eyes it is the only way to get a high-quality book like this.

A chapter ends with a More Magic section that gives you further things to explore if you found interest in the themes that were discussed. As of now I have used some of the ressources already and am satisfied.

The layout of the book is modern, easy to follow, planned and extremely awesome, concentrating on a b/w and orange color scheme with clear type, good source code listings as well as nice illustrations, quotes and images at the beginning of every chapter.

Finally, what you find in this book: 11 projects taken from real-life that should be considered examples to show what one is able to achieve in terms of mixing today's standards. A good impression of how to deal with problems that HTML, CSS, JavaScript as well as PHP and Perl bring up when put together. A good ressource for spicing up your own knowledge, confidence and work. And a bit of a lifestyle guide for the independent coder that seeks confidence in what he is doing. Magic.

What you will however not find in this book: A technical reference for each different markup language that is being talked about. A full reference of tags, attributes etc. that the specifications allow you to use. But to be honest, that never was the intention of Molly Holzschlag or her contributors writing this book.

Do I recommend this book? Yes, I do.

I've always wanted a book that had a little bit of everything for the Jane of all trades in me including HTML, XML, XHTML, PHP, ASP, CSS, etc. Impossible, I always thought -- it would be too much for such a book to exist. This book proved me wrong. It touches upon a little of everything using real-life projects from something simple as creating a personal Web site to a real challenge in using XML for the Wireless Web. Guess what? It's only two hundred something pages. Holzschlag and five other talented Web professionals have done a superb job showing how to do each project step-by-step to resolve the problem as identified at the beginning of each project chapter. Following the problem definition are the needed technical specs and the technologies or skills to complete the project. In general, this book is for those familiar with HTML, a text editor such as Notepad, and web graphics production. For some projects, it recommends a basic understanding of JavaScript and CSS. Wherever you are in your Web design knowledge, you can follow along with the book. Try out the projects in the book the help of the companion Web site loaded with graphics and code for downloading.

With a book of this nature, it's hard separating an evaluation of the book from an evaluation of the technology itself -- so I won't try too hard. Yes, the book showed certain evidence of haste in editing and proofing but the errors and weaknesses are not of the type to cause an early adopter to stumble. For instance, there is no index but chapters are distinct enough so that it is easy to find the broad categories.

I eagerly picked up this book after attending a very impressive demo of Curl's capacities. Only skimming the two chapters on Object Oriented Programming, I concentrated on the other chapters most relevant to GUI developers of Web-based applications.

Being an ardent practitioner of the W3C's Cascading Style Sheets technology, I was a bit disappointed in Curl's implementation of styles, which seems clumsy and very limited, even considering the differences in syntax. The authors were very knowledgeable on HTML and CSS issues -- which made their reliance on tables for layout a bit disturbing. Does this indicate that Curl lacks equivalents for CSS positioning and layout properties -- or merely that the authors did not happen to see this as important enough to include in examples?

I was dissatisfied with the paucity of examples and the fact that these examples were not of the type of depth to glue the various parts of Curl together. There were some good examples involving 2-D and 3-D graphics which showed the technology to advantage. However, if your primary interest is in form-based Web applications, the examples were sketchy.

The book really needs to have context. Criticism of Java, HTML, JavaScript, etc. is not enough.
The authors must speak more directly to the questions:
{}Does the Web world need another proprietary, Java-like browser plug-in?
{}Does the Curl organization have what it takes to go against Microsoft's .NET, which has a similar architecture and revenue model?

Answer these questions and you not only have a good book, but a real cool winning tool.

If you have never been to curls website and looked at this new web technology, you do not know what you are missing. In some ways, you can think of Curl as Flash on steroids, although you can do much more than the eye candy Macromedia is known for.

They call this book an early adopter book, but, since I think Curl is most likely going to go the way of Microsoft Agent, it is more a Bleeding Edge book. Unlike Microsoft Agent, however, I do think this technology is very useful.

So, what is Curl? Curl is a new OO technology for web UI development. In many ways, it is what Java promised, with applets, in its early days. The main difference here is Curl is designed to create dynamic, awe inspiring presentations (ala Flash) without a lot of work (once you learn the language, that is).

The book deals with Curl primarily as a UI development language. Through the chapters you will learn to work with 2d and 3d environments, multimedia and even dynamic client interaction. As with all Wrox books, there are plenty of code examples (all downloadable from the Wrox site).

I really love this book, although I wonder if the technology will ever really take off (Curl engine download is huge if you have a dialup).

Curl is an important new client-side web language that permits you to create web applications that have the same rich interactive power of local applications (Word, Excel) while reducing the complexity that arises from using multiple existing web languages.

This is currently the BEST Curl book on the market. Ok, it's currently the ONLY Curl book on the market, which makes it Good News/Bad News.

Good News: This book does a great job of providing Curl information and "how to" examples in more depth than the Curl manuals. All the major topics are covered, which makes this a good overall reference book. The graphics architecture section is particularly helpful, where the authors describe the overall graphics framework of Curl. This info would save any new user time when learning Curl.

Bad News: by targeting the early adopter, the book is timely, but shows some warts. Some sections still show and describe the last beta version of Curl. The last beta was mostly similar to the current version of Curl, but the small differences are occasionally distracting. The book also has a number of typos and the class descriptions in one table were copied directly from the (free) Curl manual. As most of the authors are from Curl Corporation, this is not plagiarism, but it is not new information either.

Overall, this book serves its purpose by being the first overall book on Curl. The book itself is a great way to learn Curl in conjunction with the Curl manuals. Despite its warts, it is well worth owning.

[Bruce Mount worked as one of the Technical Reviewers for this book. No, he didn't review the section with typos. :-)]

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"EA Curl" will help you get up to speed quickly with advanced online applications that will blow Java right out of the water!

Curl technology has the potential of becoming the future of the web, and is being called the X-Internet by some (for executable internet).

Even though the online, interactive docs that come with the Curl IDE (Surge Lab) are excellent, and comprehensive (not to mention free), if you are serious about using Curl to put the web to work, then you should take a look at "Early Adopter Curl". It was written by a group of people that includs several Curl engineers, and has a lot of pertinent information on how to start developing with Curl.

I've been involved with Curl since the first private Beta, and still found a lot of things that I still hadn't figured out on my own. "EA Curl" also makes a great reference, as it is sometimes a pain to be trying to switch between the online Curl Developer Guide and what you happen to be working on in the Lab IDE.

I would put the target user level for this book at beginner -> advanced intermediate. If you are looking to do heavy duty 3D programming, and already are up to speed with Curl, you might be better off waiting for a more specialized book -- but for the rest of us, it's a valuable resouce.

-Chris

This is an excelent book buy it

* El CD es bueno, contiene bastantes imágenes, para aquellos que saben utilizar programas de manipulación de imágenes, pueden hacer uso de algunas para su sitio.

* Contiene tambien bastante código re-utilizable, que es bueno tambien, sim embargo, la mayoría de estos los encuentras en internet.

* El problema con este libro, es que está enfocado a programación básica, no entra en detalles como Bases de datos, Macromedia, e incluso scripts.

* Lo recomiendo para aquellas personas que deseen empezar en esto. Es fácil de leer, y con bastantes ejemplos.

Suerte!

Este libro te enseña a utilizar código mas que nada. No habla sobre bases de datos, ni sobre applets, o Macromedia. Siento que está muy atrás de lo que es internet hoy en día.

* Para los que son nuevos en esto, está perfecto.

* Para el que quiere crecer sus conocimientos en el Desarrollo de Internet, no es muy bueno.

* Para el que es muy autodidacta, no se lo recomiendo, ya que puede aprender todo lo que viene en el libro, en el mismo Internet.

Reutilizar código es bueno, pero tambien necesitamos saber al 100% cómo realizarlo.

El CD que viene con el libro, es bueno. Tiene muchas imágenes que puedes utilizar en caso de saber manipularlas.

Suerte!

Este libro les ayudará a crear sus páginas web de una manera muy sencilla. No utiliza literatura complicada y cada cosa es explicada suponiendo que no poseemos mucha experiencia previa en el tema. Ideal para personas que se inician en el armado de páginas Web.

This book is kinda ok. It gives basic understanding of how WebSphere works. But this material is absolutely insufficient to help developers working with the product. I would probably better spend money on smth else.

This book covers every step of the Web application development lifecycle, from requirements analysis, through analysis and design, implementation, and testing and deployment. The coverage in each chapter is not exhaustive about the development step, nor is it an introduction to it. Rather, it gives a reminder of what the step is meant to be, and explains how to apply the existing IBM and open-source tools to fulfill the step in the application development process. The content is objective-driven, with code snippets, step-by-step instructions, and screen captures. Each chapter gives a list of complementary references for the reader to complete his knowledge of the topic. Besides IBM's WebSphere 4 Application Server, the llist of tools and products covered in this book includes DB2, Rational Rose, Visual Age, Struts, and Ant.

This book is good at what it does, and one should not expect more. This book is not a tutorial about Web application development, it only helps to learn about WebSphere 4 and a bit about the tools that can be used to get a WebSphere 3 application out. To learn about how to write J2EE webapps in general, you should definitely turn toward a dedicated tutorial.

It came to me to get a copy of this book when I was starting as a software developer on a WebSphere 4 project. This book has been a key inspiration to me, providing me with the opportunity to complete my development skills with other book recommendations. Not only as a handbook, it has been also useful to me as a "reading dispatcher". I definitely want to keep this book with me on future WebSphere 4 projects.

If you have made sure this is the book you need, you will be happy with it.

J2EE architect and designer should read this book. Eventhough the title says ...Websphere 4.0..., this book talks about Ant, Struts, the environment setup and lot more, in simple steps and good example snippets

As stated in the title of the book, The Concise SGML Companion is really consice. The book is very seriously presented and the there is absolutely no hand waving involved. Every page is filled with useful information.

The problem with this book is that is to concise! First of all SGML is not explained in full. There is several (not commenly used) parts of SGML that is simply not discussed. If the book is supposed to be used as a reference book (as seems to be the point) the it becomes useless. Not even the road map (a strangely formatted list of production rules) in the end of the book is complete. This book is not to be used alone. If only one book is to be bought then The SGML Handbook is a better alternative.

Second, all the examples is very short (mostly 3 lines or less) and can it hard to grasp the context in which each construction is used. The book should have had at least a few larger examples and at least one full SGML document showing most the features.

Third, there is chapters that introduce HTML and CALS tables, which in my opinion is not very relevant for the book. If any other languages are to be described it is XML. XML was not developed at the time of writing, but then a newer edition could have done that.

I had to learn SGML "the hard way" and this book became a bible to me - it is now my most treasured SGML book - all battered and highlighted to death.

It offers a concise guide to the syntax of SGML DTDs. It isn't meant for folks looking for an all over how-to book for SGML. Its a serious reference book that is concise and to the point.

" I have NEVER read such an exceptional presentation of HTML as DDC's HTML Fundamentals. This Publication is superb! It's incredibly clear, concise, and logically sequenced with practical, jargon-free exercises." - Sandi Scanneli, Training Manager

The content of the book was easy to follow. I had no problem understanding the text or completing the exercises. My only problem with this book was that the some of the exercises in Units 5, 6, & 7 refer to student files not on the floppy disk that came with the book. I was able to manually recreate some files in order to complete the exercises. It was disappointing and frustrating, to say the least, not to have the corresponding files to go with the exercises in the manual. Perhaps I got an old floppy from a previous HTML course the published? Other than that, I enjoyed the tutorial.

The content of the book was easy to understand. Geared toward users with a very basic knowledge of HTML. The layout and format were excellent. My only problem with this book was that the data disk enclosed with the book did not match the exercises. I had the same problem with the Fundamentals book. I worked around the problem and got the full effect of the lessons anyway.

Goldfarb, the inventor of SGML, and two other experts present the HARP Analysis methodology for assessing publication operations in an intuitive visual way. The software and HARP materials on the CD-ROM is good for analyzing the diagrams many common publishing scenarios, including book publishing, proposal preparation, documentation, and electronic publishing. The guide also contains descriptions of some 150 SGML and XML tools, services, and vendors, as well as an unabashedly subjective sponsor showcase.

(Four stars to me means "very good".)

This book is a pretty good primer on XML. I bought it to learn about XML Schemas (XSDs) and XML Transformations (XSLTs). I read about two-thirds of the book thoroughly, and haven't read any other XML books closely yet.

The author's tone and pace are great. The back of the book says that the author is an experienced trainer, and it shows in the book. I have seen many a technical book that talks down to its audience, and this isn't one of them. If you're actually learning the subject and not just browsing, you won't be skimming through pages of fluff. The book doesn't assume that you've read three other books covering the subject already, or assume that you have a Master's in Comp Sci. (Personally I hate it when technical books use words like "orthogonal" or "reify".)

The book's coverage is remarkably broad. The author doesn't seem to have any bias towards any particular language or OS, and presents his examples in every language you're likely to want to use. There are primer-style review questions and exercises at the end of each chapter, and they are actually useful.

One of the ways that this book stands out is that the author talks about up-to-the-minute technologies including data binding and web services, and technologies that are not yet mainstream, such as XLink and XForms. Considering that most technical books are out of date by the time they are published, this is a remarkable achievement, especially for a book of about 1,000 pages.

A couple shortcomings -- the example files aren't available online as of this writing, and I wish that the XSL Transformations chapter more explicitly described how the processor processes a template in step-by-step fashion. It took me a couple readings to get the idea, but I bet that happens with every book that covers XSL Transformations.