recommend a book? 2

[mrmovie]

could anyone recommend a book on XML.
I have no experience at the moment. i do have a lot of scripting/programming experience though.
my first use of XML will be to convert an ini file to XML,

example ini file entry

Acrobat 6.0=Acrobat.txt$Acrobat 6.0 - Licence required !!!$%softwaredrive%\Adobe\Acrobat\V6.0_ML\_SCRIPT\UNA-Acrobat-V6.0-ML.INI$nosleep;noreboot$noseq$nodep

the value is delimited by $ signs, each element represents a property.

we have alot of ini files like this and i find it annoying having funny splits() and parsing routines

thanks,
von moyla

 

[harebrain]

Before you buy a book, why not just go to one of the partner sites here, namely zvon.org or topxml.com? (Links at the lower left of every page here.) I suppose David Hunter's book from Wrox, "Beginning XML," is OK if you must have hardcopy, but if you have some experience with hierarchically structured data, the tutorials mentioned should do it for you.

Then I would get Elliotte Rusty Harold's "Effective XML." IMO, the most practical book on the subject, assuming you already know a little about XML.

AVOID the Deitel et alii book, "XML: How to Program." Too many authors, rushed to press, uneven treatment of subjects, haughtily academic, and way too wrapped-around-the-axle in a tortured comparison to HTML. All-in-all, just a blatant attempt to cash-in on a hot topic -- a waste of money.

Bonus answer
For XSLT, I like Jeni Tennison's book. I have an old Wrox edition, but it was picked up by APress during Wrox's bankruptcy.

 

[gsbsuds]

I, too, am new to XML programming. The books that were recommended to me for getting a quick and easy understanding were "XML For the World Wide Web" by Elizabeth Castro, and oddly enough "XML for Dummies" by Ed Tittel, Ed, et al. Tittel. Although, I decided to take a course in XML and the book that using is also very good and it is "Beginning XML, Second Edition"
by David Hunter, Kurt Cagle, et. al.

Hope this helps.

 

[mrmovie]

thanks for the recommendations.