Best XML Books

If you're a web developer who understands HTML and wants to learn more about XML, this is a great book to pick up. It covers all the basics of XML including markup, links, DOM, transformations, and more. It is also a great book for developers who want a refresher on the basics of XML and markup.

If you're looking for a good introduction to XML, this is a great book. It provides all a beginner needs to start understanding XML without getting overwhelmed. You should have some understanding of HTML coding practices before you start reading this book, but even if all you've ever used is a WYSIWYG editor you'll get something out of it.

This is a very comprehensive book for the beginner. In fact, it might be a bit too comprehensive, as it's size might be intimidating. But this book is well worth it. If you're brand new to the concept of markup languages, this is a good book to pick up, but it isn't light reading. I recommend treating each chapter as a separate book. Read each section to understand the ins and outs of XML.

This is not a book for learning XML. But if you already use XML, you will find it an invaluable reference. There is a quick overview of the basics of XML and DTDs, and then it provides overviews and references on all sorts of XML related topics: namespaces, XSLT, XLinks, CSS, and more. Finally there is a comprehensive reference section covering XML 1.0, XPath, XSLT, DOM, SAX, and character sets.

This isn't an XML book for learning XML, but rather that you keep with you to refer to when you need it. The schema section is invaluable for writing XML shemas on a daily basis. And the rest of the reference book is very useful for other XML tasks.

This book can be hard to find, but if offers some great tips and best practices for writing and using XML.

One of the things I like best about this book are the examples. They demostrate XML and how you can use it really effectively.

Another very large book, the XML Bible is very comprehensive. I find it to be a bit fluffy at times, but it does contain all of the necessary information you need to learn to use XML. It also includes some interesting uses for XML, like creating local language versions of your web sites.

This is one of the first XML books I picked up. I like the fact that it really is a book of examples, rather than assuming that you want a long explanation of what XML is. The first 30 or so pages of the book covers XML and what it is and then you jump right into the examples. The primary focus of this book is on ecommerce and how you can use XML to build storefronts. But there isn't a lot of useful detail to make it useful for anyone not building an ecommerce site.

If you're looking for a fun way to learn XML, this book in the "For Dummies series is a good choice. It is fairly short and easy to read. But don't expect to get a lot of meaty details. In some ways it oversimplifies XML and renders the subject almost meaningless. But it is fun in the way that most "For Dummies" books are fun. If you like that style of book, you'll like this one too.