XML

Section 2: XML Articles and Tutorials

Within the XML section below you'll find helpful annotated links to articles, tutorials, reference charts, XML editors and syntax checkers, and more related to XML. You'll also find a listing of recommended books on XML.

Do you know of some good XML tutorials, articles, XML references, software, books, or resources related to XML? Recommendations are welcome and encouraged!

On this page:

Articles and Tutorials on XML in General
DOM and XML Articles and Tutorials
XML Information Set Articles and Tutorials
XML Linking Articles and Tutorials
XML Namespaces Articles and Tutorials
XML and RSS Articles and Tutorials
XML and Styles Articles and Tutorials

Also within XML:

Articles and Tutorials on XML in General

A Child's Garden of XML
Simon St. Laurent's article for A List Apart. Excellent article that covers XML implementation on the web, concerns, what to look out for, browsers, and related. [Tutorial dated 02/18/2000 by Simon St. Laurent for A List Apart.]
Cross-Browser XML
by Simon St. Laurent, originally as presentation for XMLDevCon2001, April 2001. Covers major browsers, SGML, incompatibilities, HTML as the glue, hybrid documents, server-side solutions, and more. Links to more resources, too. [Tutorial dated 04/2001 by Simon St. Laurent.]
Dr. Tom's Guide to XML
Easy-to-understand tutorial about what XML is, how to use it, with examples and resources included. [Tutorial dated 11/07/2000 by Thomas D. Wason, Ph.D. (a.k.a. Dr. Tom).]
Introduction to XML
Helpful introductory tutorial provided by IBM. Self-described as “what XML is, why it was developed, and how it's shaping the future of electronic commerce. It also covers a variety of important XML programming interfaces and standards, and ends with two case studies showing how companies are using XML to solve business problems.” [2002-08-01, By Doug Tidwell, XML Evangelist, IBM IBM XML Zone]
Structure in Documents
An introduction on the structuring documents and databases with XML. Well done tutorial by textmatters.com. Download it in PDF format: Structure in Documents (PDF). [Article by textmatters.com.]
Understanding XML
Helpful introductory tutorial on XML. Their summary description states, “Learn how the Extensible Markup Language (XML) facilitates universal data access. XML is a plain-text, Unicode-based meta-language: a language for defining markup languages. It is not tied to any programming language, operating system, or software vendor. XML provides access to a plethora of technologies for manipulating, structuring, transforming and querying data. (14 printed pages)” [Article/tutorial dated 07/2003, by Dare Obasanjo, for Microsoft MSDN Library.]
The XML FAQ
by Peter Flynn. Intended as a first resource for users, developers, and others interested in learning about XML. Very thorough, covering all the basics and then some. Organized in categories: General, User, Author, and Developer. Very well done FAQ originally maintained on behalf of W3C's XML Special Interest Group, and includes links to more resources, too. [FAQ updated 01/07/2006 by Peter Flynn.]
XML in 10 points
W3C's introductory tutorial to the world of XML, reviewing the highlights. Great place to start or to get a quick overview of XML. [Article by W3C.]
XML Protocol Technology Reference
Protocols and Messaging: SOAP, XML-RPC, BXXP, ebXML Messaging, W3C XML Protocol; Interface Description: WSDL, UDDI, Service Discovery: UDDI, ADS, DISCO; Interoperability: CORBA/SOAP integration. [Article/tutorial dated 11/01/2000 by Edd Dumbill, XML.com.]

XML and DOM Articles and Tutorials

What is XML DOM? [Article/tutorial dated 2006, by Microsoft MSDN Libary.]

XML Information Set Articles and Tutorials

Exploring the XML Infoset
Introductory explanation of what the XML Infoset is and is NOT, along with a helpful chart. Chapter excerpt from the book, XML Family of Specifications: A Practical Guide, by Kenneth B. Sall. [Article/tutorial dated 06/07/2003, by Kenneth B. Sall, author.]

XML Linking Articles and Tutorials

How will XML affect my document links?
From Peter Flynn's XML FAQ, this section provides concise information about XML linking, including W3C Recommendations, XLink and XPointer.
XML Linking Technologies
by Eric van der Vlist (10/04/2000). Explains some of the ways to express links, focusing on linking nodes in a single document.

XML Namespaces Articles and Tutorials

Namespace Myths Exploded
by Ronald Bourret at xml.com. Thorough tutorial and explanations about namespace misconceptions and myths.
XML Namespaces
by James Clark. This article explains the W3C namespaces recommendation.
XML Namespaces
W3Schools.com's tutorial on XML namespaces within its XML section. Well done, easy to understand.
XML Namespaces FAQ
Maintained by Ronald Bourret. Incredibly thorough, well organized FAQ all about XML namespaces and how to use them, and plenty of examples and links to references and resources. Top-notch.

XML and RSS Articles and Tutorials

Creating RSS files for your Web site
by Webreference.com. Want to allow syndication of your site, a page, your weblog, newsletter? Learn how through this helpful tutorial. Part 1 of 2. [By Michael Claßen, webreference.com]
Friday Feast #42: The World of RSS Feeds
Resources to RSS tutorials, information, feeds, tools, and more. [by WebsiteTips.com's editor Shirley Kaiser for Brainstorms & Raves, 2003-05-02]
Really Simple Syndication
An article providing background information about RSS, where it is today, possible future directions, and thoughts. [by Sam Ruby.]
Registering and publishing with RSS
by Webreference.com. Once you've created your RSS feed, learn how to register and publish it with My Netscape Network (MNN), UserLand, Moreover.com and xmlTree. Part 2 of 5. [By Michael Claßen, webreference.com]
RSS For Non-Techie Librarians
Good introduction to the benefits and how-to-instructions for utilizing RSS feeds to conveniently review a multitude of sites and resources. [Tutorial dated 06/2002 by Steven M. Cohen.]
RSS On the Client: What do I do with an RSS feed?
Tutorial at XML.com about what you can do with an RSS feed. Helpful, easy-to-understand tutorial, with links to resources. [by John E. Simpson XML.com]
RSS Tutorial for Content Publishers and Webmasters
Provides a helpful introduction to RSS feeds, how to create good feeds, tools available, and resources to more information. [By Mark Nottingham.]
Using RSS News Feeds
This WebReference.com tutorial provides instructions for writing a simple Perl script to retrieve an XML RSS file from the Web or local file system and converts it to HTML, and uses SSI or similar method to add news headlines from any number of sources to your Web site. Perl script provided and more. [By Jonathan Eisenzopf, webreference.com]
What is an RSS Channel, Anyway?
Insightful introductory article about what an RSS channel is, the uses and components of an RSS channel, and channel definitions and terms. [By Mark Nottingham.]
What is RSS?
A helpful introductory article about RSS that provides a brief history, a helpful chart about RSS versions and compatibility, samples of RSS, and even how to write a simple program to read RSS feeds. [Tutorial dated 12/2002 by Mark Pilgrim for XML.com.]
Where Next for RSS?
Opinion piece by Tim Bray about RSS, where it's going, what to read RSS with, and the bonuses and drawbacks. [Article dated 01/2003 by Tim Bray.]

XML and Styles Articles and Tutorials

Architectures for Styling
by Didier Martin, XML.com. Very well done article. I especially like the figures, such as one showing the flow from backend to the Web, or to mobile phones, or something else. Well done, easy to understand, great diagrams.
Style Matters
"A fortnightly column written by Didier PH Martin, covering XML style and transformation related topics, such as XSLT and CSS."

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