Synopses & Reviews
The Extensible Markup Language (XML) has been anointed as the universal duct tape for all software integration problems despite XML's relatively humble origins in the world of document management systems.
Essential XML presents a software engineering-focused view of XML and investigates how XML can be used as a component integration technology much like COM or CORBA. Written for software developers and technical managers, this book demonstrates how XML can be used as the glue between independently developed software components (or in the marketecture terminology
du jour, how XML can act as the backplane for B2B e-commerce applications).
Authors Don Box, Aaron Skonnard, and John Lam cover the key issues, technologies, and techniques involved in using XML as the adhesive between disparate software components and environments. They explain the fundamental abstractions and concepts that permeate all XML technologies, primarily those documented in the XML Information Set (Infoset). XML-based approaches to metadata, declarative, and procedural programming through transformation and programmatic interfaces are covered. Don Box, co-author of the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) specification, provides readers with insight into this emerging XML messaging technology for bridging COM, CORBA, EJB, and the Web.
Readers acquire a better understanding of XML's inner workings and come to see how its platform, language, and vendor independence--along with its accessibility--make it an extraordinarily effective solution for software interoperation.
0201709147B04062001
Synopsis
XML holds out the promise of a universal and standard means of object/component communication that vastly reduces the need for reliance on competing ORB standards such as Enterprise JavaBeans, COM, and CORBA. In this book, Don Box covers every key issue, technology, and technique involved in using XML as the "ultimate translator" between disparate software components and environments.KEY TOPICS: Essential XML starts by contrasting the XML approach to software interoperability with pre-XML practices, technologies, and methodologies, including COM, CORBA, and EJB. Next, it examines XML-based approaches to metadata, declarative and procedural programming through transformation, and programmatic interfaces -- showing how XML's platform, language and vendor independence -- and its accessibility -- make it a far more effective solution for software interoperability than any alternative. The book also contains detailed coverage of the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), an XML/HTTP-based protocol for accessing services, objects and servers in a platform-independent manner.MARKET: For experienced XML developers, and for all software architects, designers, developers, and business decision-makers seeking better ways to integrate software components.
About the Author
Don Box is a leading educator, recognized authority on the Component Object Model (COM), coauthor of the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) specification, and coiner of the term "COM is Love." He recently joined Microsoft as an architect in the Microsoft
® .NET Developer and Platform Evangelism Group.
Earlier in his career, Box cofounded DevelopMentor Inc., a component software think tank aimed at educating developers on the use of the COM, Java, and XML. A popular public speaker, Box is known for engaging audiences around the world, combining deep technical insight with often outrageous stunts.
Aaron Skonnard is a member of the technical staff at DevelopMentor and a contributing editor to MSDN Magazine, where he writes "The XML Files" column.
John Lam is a member of the technical staff at DevelopMentor and a contributor to PC and MSDN magazines.
0201709147AB06132002
Table of Contents
Preface.
1. Beyond Markup.
Document Basics.
Names.
Processing Instructions.
Entities.
Types and XML.
Serialization Details.
Where Are We?
2. Programming XML.
Simple API for XML Version 2 (SAX2).
Auxiliary SAX Interfaces.
SAX and I/O.
SAX Error Handling.
The Glue of SAX: XMLReader.
The Document Object Model.
The Object Model.
The DOM and Factories.
The Node Interface.
Parents and Children.
Nonhierarchical Nodes.
Text Nodes.
Element and Attribute Nodes.
Document, Document Type, and Entity Nodes.
Bulk Insertion Using Document Fragment.
DOM Error Handling.
Implementation vs Interface.
DOM Traversal.
Where Are We?
3. Navigation.
XPath Basics.
XPath Expressions.
XPath Functions.
Xpath Abbreviations.
Navigation and URLs.
URL + Xpath == Xpointer.
Ranges and Points.
Where Are We?
4. XML Schemas.
Schema Basics
Type Definitions.
Element Declarations.
Complex Types.
Content Models and Particles.
Attributes.
Extensibility.
Types Revisited.
Reference and Uniqueness Constraints.
Where Are We?
5. Transforms.
XSLT Basics.
Template-based Programming.
Namespaces and XSLT.
Generated Output.
Multiple Stylesheets.
Pattern-based Templates.
Controlling Output.
Where Are We?
6. Beyond Interface-based Programming.
Where Are We?
Leaving Home.
XML as a Better Component Model.
Documents as Messages.
Where Are We Going?
Appendix A: The XML Information Set (Infoset).
W3C Working Draft 20 December-1999.
Abstract.
Status of this Document.
Contents.
1. Introduction.
2. Information Items.
3. Example.
4. Conformance.
5. What is not in the Information Set.
6. References.
Appendix A: XML 1.0 Reporting Requirements (informative).
Appendix B: RDF Schema (informative).
Appendix B: XML Productions.
Sorted by production number.
Sorted by name.
Character Tables.
Appendix C: Example Gallery.
SAX/DOM Examples.
XPath Expressions.
Programming XPath.
XML Schema Examples.
ESLT Examples.
Programming XSLT.
Index.