Resources: Books

XML Design Handbook
This book offers "best practice" advice to developers when they approach key XML design elements, such as schema design, parsing strategies, and presentation strategies. It is geared primarily toward the beginning-to-intermediate XML developer or architect who is looking for guidance on the best ways to effectively use XML.

SQL Server 2000 XML Distilled
This book provides an overview of the XML functionality available in Microsoft SQL Server 2000. Technologies such as updategrams, XML views, and SELECT FOR EXPLICIT are covered. This is one of the first offerings from Curlingstone, an imprint of Wrox Press geared specifically to the data professional.

Professional XML Databases
This book covers the use of relational databases with XML, and some nuances of moving information between the two platforms. Check out the data modeling chapters in particular—they cover some common pitfalls encountered when trying to model relational data in XML.

Professional XML for .NET Developers
This book serves as an introduction to the .NET XML functionality. All of the XML assemblies in .NET are covered, including System.Xml, System.Xml.Xsl, and System.Xml.Xpath. Like all the Wrox books, it includes a good mix of examples, case studies, and best practice recommendations.

Professional XML
Provides an expert-level guide to the use of XML in the enterprise. This book includes some information on working drafts (such as XLink and XPointer) that is now out-of-date. Fortunately, the second edition was just published (see below).

Professional XML, 2nd Edition
The second edition of Professional XML. In this revision, many of the chapters on emerging technologies (such as XLink and XPointer) have been revised to agree with the latest working drafts of those specifications. In addition, more coverage has been added to technologies such as SOAP and WSDL.

Professional XML Schemas
A comprehensive guide to the somewhat-opaque XML Schema specifications. This book provides coverage of all three specifications for XML Schema, as well as good case studies and complex modeling exercises.

Professional ASP XML
Provides practical information on the use of XML from ASP 3.0 scripts. The MSXML XML library is covered in depth, as well as some techniques for moving information from one form to another (such as the use of XSLT to generate Web pages, or the use of ADO to extract information from a relational database and create XML documents from it).

ASP 3.0 Programmer's Reference
A reference covering the ASP 3.0 scripting environment, including exhaustive coverage of the MSXML XML libraries. Useful more for a quick syntax lookup than as a learning tool.