Looking past much of the hype surrounding XML, Applied XML provides a real-world guide to the XML used in the latest browsers and server-side solutions. Approachable yet filled with useful specifics about XML standards, this book fills a valuable niche for any IS professional, including Java developers.

The notable feature here is the clarity of the authors' presentation and their real-world examples using current tools. They start off with the "big picture" about XML and its potential for allowing today's corporations to structure and deliver data over the Internet. The book then covers all the basics with a full tour of the relevant XML standards like DTDs, XML DOM, and XSL (for displaying XML data).

Because XML is still a fairly new technology, many books drift into theory. Not so with Applied XML, which centers on today's tools (like Internet Explorer 5 and a variety of XML parsers for Java). The book anchors his discussion of XML standards with real-world examples using an online shopping site powered by ASPs and Java. There is also good coverage of the XML document model, including many clear diagrams explaining the hierarchical organization of XML data. If you've been baffled by more abstract explanations of XML, this guide is as good as any for getting you started with this powerful standard. For the Java programmer, examples of using Java to parse and display XML data will also be useful.

Now that XML has moved into the mainstream, it stands ready to do real work on the Internet. Any IS professional who is considering XML for delivering corporate data can benefit from this capable and efficient tour of the advantages of XML for today's businesses