Book Title: Beginning XML 2nd Edition
Authors: Kurt Cagle, Chris Dix, David Hunter, Roger Kovack, Jonathon Pinnock, Jeff Rafter
Editors: Sarah Larder, Simon Mackie
Pages: 785
Price: $39.95 US
Publisher: Wrox Press
Latest Reprint: July, 2002
ISBN: 1-861005-59-8

In the "About the Authors" section of  Beginning XML 2nd Edition there is so much talk about God that I had to keep reminding myself that this was a professional reference for computer programmers, not a guidebook for conducting religious revival meetings. Here's some quotes from the authors:

"I thank God for his love and grace in all things."

— Jeff Rafter

"First of all, I would like to thank God for the incredible opportunities he has given me to do something I love, and even write books about it. I pray that the glory will go to him."

— David Hunter

— Roger Kovack

I wish the next time Roger Kovack pleads for world peace that he remembers the victims of the plane that crashed on September 11 in Pennsylvania. Furthermore, I wish he learned how to formulate sentences better. That second sentence is pretty tough to read.

You might think I'm being pretty picky to raise this much attention to a part of the book that has nothing to do with what the book is about, but I argue that the author bios are as important as anything else in the book. If the author bios are inappropriate and unprofessional, how should I be expected to trust the authority of the rest of the book? I would not have in fact bought this book had I read this section more carefully before I bought it.

As evidenced by Roger Kovack's poorly written second sentence, quoted above, this book isn't terribly articulate. You get the sense that these authors may know their subject well, but aren't technical writers. You also get the sense that the editors are either incompetent, asleep, rushed, or just don't care.

I was actually reasonably happy with this book until chapter 4, the XSLT chapter. David Hunter, the writer mentioned earlier who prays that his glory will go to God, wrote this chapter. I think he definitely could stand to do a little more praying, as this is one the worst examples of technical writing I have ever seen. What he does in this chapter from the very beginning, is throw examples at you which have XSLT syntax that is never defined. He literally promises to clarify everything by the end of the chapter. Perhaps he clarified this stuff for some people, but not for me, and he never completely defined the syntax of what he was describing. It is impossible for me to understand things that aren't clearly defined before they are presented.

This book seems to take the position that the only technologies available to people are Microsoft technologies. I'll give you an example: In the DOM chapter, there is no mention of the fact that there is a standard DOM Level 2 API for loading XML files. Instead you're told about the proprietary Microsoft method of loading XML files, which will only work for Internet Explorer. If for example you want to know how to load XML files using the DOM with Netscape, you're on your own. I really hate this if-you're-not-using-Microsoft-than that's-your-problem attitude.

This book is not bound well. After hardly any use, the binding started to show prominent signs of coming apart.

I can't give this book the official CodeHouse.com seal of approval, but I will say that it's pretty thorough. It covers a lot of territory that OREILLY's Learning XML, neglects. We have also reviewed Learning XML here. Beginning XML 2nd Edition is also newer, so it has up-to-date coverage of XML Schemas. Much of this book isn't bad. It's just uneven. I wouldn't rely on this book to learn XSLT. For that I would buy a separate book that was exclusively about XSLT.

Reviewed by: Ed Phillips