XML: How to start?

[Nic]

Hello,

I'd like to learn the XML language (in particular am interested in DTD,
XML Schema and styles). Do you have some suggestion useful to start? I
see there are many books but don't know how to start. I began to read
one of this publication (the famous 1000 pages omnicomprensive) but it
seems to me a bit dispersive.
Can you help me please?
Many thanks in advance!

Best,
Nick

 

[Peter Flynn]

Hello,

I'd like to learn the XML language

XML isn't actually a language (apart from the Declaration Syntax);
it's a specification for a syntax to write markup languages of your
own.

(in particular am interested in DTD,
XML Schema and styles). Do you have some suggestion useful to start? I
see there are many books but don't know how to start. I began to read
one of this publication (the famous 1000 pages omnicomprensive) but it
seems to me a bit dispersive.

The best approach is to learn something about the use of markup first,
so that you understand why you might want to do such a thing. The TEI's
famous chapter "A Gentle Introduction to XML" is a good starting-point:
http://www.tei-c.org/P4X/SG.html

You may then want to decide the kind of things you want to use XML for.
Traditionally it's been used for text document for publication, but
outside the publishing field its primary use is as a carrier of
information between disparate systems (messages, data transfer, data
specification, etc). The way in which markup is used for these two
classes of application is radically different, so what you decide to
learn will largely depend on your field of work.

///Peter

 

[Joe Kesselman]

There are also a lot of good articles and tutorials on the web. My
standard pointer to DeveloperWorks: http://www.ibm.com/xml

 

[Nic]

Many thanks for the help!
It's very useful.
One further question, if possible.
Can you suggest me some compact document about DTD and XMLSchema?
Thanks again.
Best,
Nick

Joe Kesselman ha scritto:

 

[Joe Kesselman]

Can you suggest me some compact document about DTD and XMLSchema?

Not sure exactly what level of detail you're looking for, but you might
want to try starting with:

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/x-sbsch.html
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/x-matters7.html
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/xml-schema/

Many, MANY other documents on this and related topics are available, of
course; I just picked the first few that looked like they might be basic
enough for your needs.