XQuery answers the growing need for a functional XML search and transformation standard. Backed by the full weight of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), XQuery is being extremely well received by the IT community worldwide. The first major XML language that takes advantage of the benefits of strong typing provided by XML Schema, XQuery has the versatility to manipulate both XML and non-XML data and provides a valuable connection between the world of XML and relational databases.

In XQuery from the Experts, select members of the W3C's XML Query working group come together to discuss every facet of XQuery. From Jonathan Robie's introductory "XQuery: A Guided Tour" to Mary Fernandez, Jerome Simeon, and Philip Wadler's "Introduction to the Formal Semantics," XQuery is revealed in a way that both novice programmers and industry experts can appreciate.

Edited by long-time XML expert and programmer Howard Katz, coverage ranges from strictly technical chapters to comparative essays such as Michael Kay's "XQuery, XPath, and XSLT," which explores the common ancestry of all three languages, and Don Chamberlin's "Influences on the Design of XQuery," which details the process behind XQuery's design.

Key coverage includes:
Denise Draper on "Mapping Between XML and Relational Data"
Michael Rys exploring "Integrating XQuery and Relational Database Systems"
Jim Tivy's analysis of "A Native XML DBMS"
Mary Fernandez, Jerome Simeon, and Philip Wadler, presenting "Static Typing in XQuery"

Information presented in both a tutorial and a reference framework for use by XML professionals of any level
For IT managers, professionals, programmers, or anyone involved with XML, XQuery from the Experts is an invaluable resource.