Simon St. Laurent - XML. A Primer

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Simon St. Laurent gets readers up to speed on this new technology quickly by describing how to create and implement Document Type Definitions (DTDs), integrate XML with other technologies, and apply XML to commerce.

HTML developers need to prepare for yet another revolution. XML is far more than a flexible version of HTML that lets you choose your own tags - XML will change the way web developers, database designers, and client-server programmers work.

This guide to XML shows developers how XML fits into the current landscape of emerging standards. It presents a complete guide to the syntax of XML, explaining how to create well-formed and valid XML documents. Style sheets, including the Cascading Style Sheets standard, are applied to XML documents to create documents that are attractive to humans as well as to computers. Document Type Declarations (DTDs) receive extensive coverage, with several chapters exploring their application through well-documented examples. XML: A Primer presents DTDs suited to a variety of tasks, including document management, EDI, device control, and traditional web page development.

Although XML's origins are in the world of SGML, it is a far simpler and cleaner standard. This book invites HTML developers without any background in SGML to explore the new world of XML. Rather than discussing standards abstractly, XML:A Primer presents step-by-step examples that don't assume prior knowledge of SGML.

XML standards are still in flux, and applications that can harness its power are in the works. This book focuses on the basics, using available standards to show developers how to apply XML solutions to real-world projects.