Xml and Java: Developing Web Applications

by Hiroshi Maruyama

Written by three XML researchers from IBM, XML and Java provides a great introduction to the Extensible Markup Language (XML) for the working Java developer. This book proves that you don't have to master all the details of XML to utilize its power for real-world projects on the Web.

After introducing XML and explaining its ability to standardize information exchange in corporate computing, the book turns to today's XML Java parsers, like XML for Java and the Simple API for Java (SAX), which greatly simplify XML development. Using these two APIs, the book shows how to parse an XML document.

Next the authors demonstrate how to create an XML document from scratch as well as modify XML tree structures. They also present a mapping program, which translates XML data from one format to another. (This utility can be used to convert HTML to XML.)

XML can be used to describe content, which the book terms as metacontent. A sample Java servlet listed in the book stores documents posted to a Web site, along with descriptions of its components. JDBC for database programming also receives coverage in an excellent example demonstrating how XML can be parsed into SQL queries and then translated back into other XML documents.

The book also examines how XML exchanges information, principally as an alternative to the Electronic Document Interchange (EDI) format, and then rounds out with XML security, a JavaBeans component version of XML for Java, and a sample Web application that gathers XML content from several travel Web sites. An appendix lists all XML for Java APIs.

In all, with its clear format and standout code examples, XML and Java is an appealing resource for Java developers approaching XML for the first time. --Richard Dragan

Genres: Programming

386 pages, Hardcover

First published May 10, 1999

Reviews

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn't what I expected. The scope of the book is centered around concerns other than actual development. It's more about how to use or integrate XML into internet-based infrastructure, such as using XML as a storage medium or on the secure exchange of XML messages over HTTP. It includes a lot of application ideas and notes on architectural concerns. It does not cover things like XML specs, parsing, or transformation. Even the Java coverage is sparse, centered mostly in one chapter on servlets.

It's actually a readable book, just not what I was looking for.