internet applications

I just finished this book cover to cover.
One should keep in mind while reviewing any literature on xmlspy, that there is a wealth of things one can do with this tool. And that it takes huge volumes to cover all those details.
Considering that this 326 page book has done a good job.
The book will definitely get you started.
Only the first 250 pages are useful. The chapters on WSDL, SOAP are too abstract to be of any use.
Also in the first 250 pages, the 2 chapters on XSTL are not done well. I was surprised to see a lot of dead code in the snippets printed.
I also came across a lot of printing errors.
Oh yeah the CD provided is for some dummies series XML book. The software was unusable.
So you are actually buying a book with around 150 pages. But I will still spend that money if I am given the opportunity to decide once again.

Hopefully there will be a revised 2nd edition.

This book shines light on the pillars of XML: XML, XSL, and XSD (schemas) with simple procedures to create and manipulate XML documents. The book is organized with each major technology in its own chapter, or basic and advanced features in 2 chapters (great for learning/mastering a particular aspect of XML, such as XSL stylesheets).

Respectfully, the flame comments about the wrong CD coming with the book seem irrelevant now -- the book now comes with all the exercises and an incredible 90-day trial version of XMLSPY (the normal download trial is for 30 days).

The information builds logically, walking you through simple examples to introduce the XML terminology, then adding nitty-gritty fine-level details demonstrating, in context, what would otherwise be abstract and complex terminology.

I enjoyed the casual, friendly writing style. There are asides about some features defined in the XML standard, but not used in the real world. Other times the author points out the way he generally does something. There are several quick procedures using the XMLSPY editor that would otherwise require repetitive or manual actions.

There's a chapter on WSDL. I haven't read it yet (loaned the book to a friend learning XML), but a local MSDN director raves about being able to edit and examine WSDL visually with XMLSPY.

THE BEST FEATURE of the book may well be the 90 day trial version of XMLSPY Enterprise Edition. The 3 months use of a $400/$500 program the CD gives you for the cost of this excellent instructional book!

NOTE: If you can read and write schemas by hand, you probably won't need all the info on XML terminology and simple examples, though you'd probably still benefit from how to do things with XMLSPY and the full 90 days to explore it.

Shipping a new CD is not an acceptable resolution. Why is there not an errata page on the Wiley web site along with downloads for the examples in the book? Why does the book not have its own URL? Why does it take at least three redirects and more than two minutes for the Wiley.com/compbooks web site to load?

The back of the book proclaims, "This is it - the only XMLSPY reference book authorized by Altova, Inc." which is not true, there is also the "XMLSPY 5 User & Reference Manual."

The content of the book is acceptable, if limited, but I am not happy with the quality of this book or the service given by the publisher. But if you are committed to use XMLSPY, which is a pretty good way to develop XML applications, this book and Wiley may be your only choice. The Tutorial in the software is very shallow.