Free! - Mini-review and competition of Beginning XML with DOM and AJAX

I start by introducing you to client-side XML and its related technologies -you'll learn rules for creating XML documents, how to display them using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and how to transform XML using Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT), incorporating XPath expressions. The focus next turns to Document Object Model (DOM) scripting and Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax) - two very powerful techniques for manipulating XML content.

I finish off by showing you how to work with XML documents on the server using both PHP5 and ASP.NEt 2.0. I build two complete case-study applications in the process: a news application and a community weather portal.

When I wrote this book, I tried to address all of the technologies and approaches that I've needed when building XML applications, outlining useful workflows and showing practical approaches to development. For me, the book is a handy reference to building any type of XML application. My hope is that you find it to be an invaluable guide to working with XML, whether you're a novice or a more experienced web developer.

Sas Jacobs

Who is this book for?

This book is mainly for developers who want to learn how to build XML web applications. AJAX and the DOM are also covered but the focus of the book lies in the XML area. The book is suited for intermediate users as well as the book has got enough depth. Advanced users will be able to get a few good tips & tricks out of the book as well, especially in the XSLT, PHP and ASP.NET chapters that the book covers.

Conclusion

Sas Jacobs, a high quality author, and one of our favorite authors at DMXzone, Sas wrote a well structured and interesting XML book that also covers other popular topics like the DOM and AJAX. She takes you from the basics of XML, display using CSS, and transform XML data using XSLT to dynamic XML scripting using the XML DOM and advanced server-side XML in real-world applications, including displaying XML data in Flash, and XML-driven PHP and ASP.NET applications. As an added bonus Sas devotes a full chapter to Ajax development. Although the book covers a lot of ground, it contains enough depth while maintaining a good explanation on each of the topics like we are used to get from Sas. All things considered, this book is a great addition to your library.

Competition

The friendly people of Apress are giving away 5 books. All you need to do, to enter the competition is; download the extract (press read more and then download sample PDF on your right)and answer the following question:

• What is the most important limitation for CSS2?

Send your answer to this e-mail address, before Thursday the 20th of July 2006. Don't forget to include your post address and phone number (required for international shipping) in the e-mail.

Good Luck!