Python
XML Processing with Python (with CD-ROM)
Format: CD-ROM
Author: Sean McGrath
ReleaseDate: 15 June, 2000
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR
Rating:
What's this about?
I use SAX2 and DOM parsers daily and they are an integral part of my software projects. I haven't clue what this book is about and how it relates to real life problem solving. I fond this book to be a total waste of time and money and I would not, could not recommend it. The O'Reilly Book on the other hand it a gem.
Too basic, too much irrelevant material
The author spends an inordinate amount of space discussing things like AWK, filename globbing on Windows, installing software, and other irrelevant items. There are some useful nuggets in this book, but there is also a lot of material that doesn't directly relate to processing XML. The software tools used as examples in the book were written for earlier versions of Python and the Python XML libraries; they do not work with the current releases of Python and PyXML, and no updates are available on the author's web site.
expensive and still loaded with typos and other errors
I've never seen a computer book that contains so many errors. This book proves that a good publisher makes a difference, and that prentice hall does not qualify. Combined with the hideous layout of the goldfarb series, this should be enough to keep you far away from it. BTW: i've added a second star, because valuable stuff is hidden in it; you just have to work too hard to get there.
If you're new to python, buy learning python and programming python instead. if you want to apply xml with python, use the web to learn more. Only buy this book if it's *deeply* discounted, or if you're looking for job as a book editor. Otherwise, you'll end up rewarding incompetent publishing.
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