Java & XML, 2nd Edition: Solutions to Real-World Problems

XML and Java: Developing Web Applications, Second Edition

Head First Design Patterns

Reference

Java XML Programmer's Reference

Format: Paperback
Author: Eric Jung
ReleaseDate: July, 2001
Publisher: Wrox Press
Rating:

Disappointing
I had read the editorial review, have a high opinion of Wrox books in general, and was looking for a book that covered the scope of topics this book claims to cover. Being a Java developer and wanting to learn how to use XML technologies with that language I had high hopes for this book coming in. I was disappointed.
For the most part the text covering the various technologies, e. g. XML, SAX, DOM, JDOM, JAXP, etc. , is a reformat and JavaDoc of the specifications. Almost every chapter opens with something like this from chapter two, 'This chapter contains the same information as the SAX 2. 0 API specification. . . ', and indeed it does. At least they're up front about it. The saving grace of each chapter are the small utility code bits, written in Java, that demonstrate the syntax of doing things but there is little elaboration.
As a reference this book pulls together a lot of technology into one place and puts it at your fingertips. Of course, by the time you've learned a couple of these sections the rest of the technologies in the book will be out of date ;) so you might be better off just bookmarking the reference pages on the web.
The Wrox motto is 'Programmer to Programmer'. They must mean mouth-to-mouth resuscitation after you've tried to plow your way through a few chapters of this book.

The best book on the subject
For any professional developer who is aspiring to build Enterprise Applications, knowledge of XML is a must. Java and XML are intricately related to each other and its importance is growing in building J2EE solutions. But more important than that is to be able to use the Java API's for XML. In a period when information about these is scattered and difficult to gather, this book has all you require to get started with Java XML in one place. The layout is perfect, the material is flawless and uptodate. The API's have been supplemented by useful examples where required which show exactly what can be done. Its a must buy for anyone. I never repented owning a copy. And my recommendation is - Go get it!.

Just what I was looking for
One of the biggest problems with XML related books in general is that i have to refer to 2-3 books to solve a 'business problem' as the books seem to be focused on one or two aspects of XML. I found it to be a very comprehensive and complete book on XML. With this book though the authors seems to have taken the approach of solving real life business problems with XML going into just the right level of details and providing great examples, I really liked the business case study and the Apache chapter. In short, it was just what i was looking for as a person who is learning xml and most importantly trying to use it to solve real world problems.