Java and XML: Solutions to Real-World Problems (Java Series (O'Reilly & Associates).) Book

Brett McLaughlin's Java and XML is a well-informed guide to the partnership between two key technologies. For this 2nd edition, the author has slimmed down the introductory material on XML, making room for expanded coverage of fast-moving topics such as JAXP, SOAP and Web Services. There is plenty of new material, so this is a book worth buying even if you have the earlier edition. The author is a co-founder of JDOM, an XML document API, and is a well-known contributor to various other open-source projects. It is no surprise to find a focus on open-source tools and resources in this book. This title does not aim to teach either Java or XML from scratch, although the first two chapters do offer an XML crash course. The following chapters cover SAX 2.0, a standard API for parsing XML, and after that there is a detailed look at the DOM (Document Object Model). JDOM gets extensive coverage, as you would expect from the author's involvement, and there is a strong chapter on JAXP, the official API for XML parsing from Sun Microsystems, explaining why it is widely misunderstood and how it complements other standards such as SAX. The second half of the book offers a chapter each on more advanced topics. One covers Web publishing frameworks, with a particular focus on Apache Cocoon. After that the author covers XML-RPC, SOAP and Web services. A chapter on content syndication shows how to use XSL and RSS (Rich Site Summary) to publish and consume information. Next comes data binding using the Castor or Zeus frameworks, or Sun's official JAXB API. Finally there is a brief look at up-and-coming APIs, and a concise reference for SAX, DOM, JDOM and JAXP.Practical, informative and well-written, this book is ideal for professionals who are either working with Java and XML, or considering doing so. --Tim AndersonRead More