Customer Reviews
Fine as far as it goes. - By: Graham Phillips, 27 Nov 2003 
A good introduction to XML & some associated technologies such as DTDs, schemas, XSLT & CSS, & a pleasant change from alll those books whose authors think they won't be taken seriously unless they fill at least 750 pages.
The publisher claims that this guide "uses pictures rather than lengthy explanations", but most of the pictures are simple screendumps of text in an editor. The pictures are more useful in the CSS layout section; however, there are better books on CSS than this, for example by Eric Meyer. (Most are based on HTML rather than XML, but the principles are the same.)
Nicely laid out & printed,and no significant errors or typos. Just a reminder: this book does not cover the DOM, SAX, SOAP or XML-RPC, so you will need to look elsewhere if that's what you need.
Elegant and concise - By: , 14 May 2001 
This is a great book.
After two years of searching for a decent book on XML, I was surprised to find what exactly I needed in such a smalll volume. It seems to say very little, but says everything you need to know. Other writers must grind their teeth in frustration, wishing that they could do what Castro has done here.
I agree with another reviewer here who says that it maybe isn't for the absolute beginner to XML, but if you have read a good introductory article on XML somewhere, then it's perfect. Everyone else is providing either discursive introductions about the idea of XML, or over-detailed, confusing examples. This book hits the sweet spot in between. I'll keep it handy.
Concise, but confusing for true beginners - By: dan@docushop.co.uk, 17 Apr 2001 
If you purchase this book with the intention of writing XML within an hour or so, beware: Although alll the information is there, it is difficult to follow a single thread that leads to a working example.
I am sure this will be a useful book, but it is not a quick start to xml. For the price, it is justified. Otherwise there are better step-by-step tutorials online.
The book's "real world" approach is quite good, balancing the various approaches to xml within just a few pages
This is a book that needs to be followed carefully to get the value it contains. Not everyone will be suited to its concise style.
Excellent book - By: , 31 Jan 2001 An Excellent book with good resources & very easy to follow. The book contains links to the source code & other websites that have downloadable files. The book itself is easy to follow, & quick to be learned. the examples are well explained & easy to follow. With this book you can be writing XML within the hour.Belive me this is not rubbish it is true. Well worth buying
An excellent introduction to XML. Clear and concise. - By: , 29 Nov 2000 The layout of the book makes it easy to follow, with very clear examples, tips & reminders. The explanations & descriptions are straight to the point.
