Professional ASP XML (ISBN 1861004028)

Book Description:
XML, the Extensible Markup Language, is a platform-independent language for describing data. The XML and related specifications, as well as the Document Object Model, have all been developed with language independence in mind. This was done to allow any programmer to use these powerful protocols and object models in their own language of choice, thus providing a huge development potential for the XML community and offering a myriad of opportunities to developers working with established technologies. ASP has long been leading technology for server-side, dynamic web applications. And XML, as the newest markup language and a standard format for the universal sharing of data, is undoubtedly set to become an intrinsic part of all major development both on the Web, and in the wider business community. The next generation of web sites will inevitably combine these technologies as e-commerce matures and developers look for more efficient ways to integrate Internet presence with business systems.

Not worth it (at all):
This book was a real dissapointment. I LOVE wrox ASP 3.0 Ref and ADO 2.6 Ref. Maybe Wrox should have taken that approach with this book -- instead of trying to act like this book can in any way teach anything about XML. The examples in this book are horrid, they aren't in depth enough, and more importantly, don't even correspond well with each other. Too many of the chapters jump into the middle of a subject, then try to work back to the beginning and then forward to the end. Trust me, I've read the first 5-7 chapters of this book and finally got so sick of all the ambiguity that I went out to the MS Site and learned more in 30 minutes there than I ever could have with this book. Some of the case studies in the back are nice, and this book would have made a great reference (had they gone that route), but it is a horrible book to learn how to integrate XML with ASP. Save your money.

Bad examples, choppy, dated and not for beginners:
I'm a big fan of the WROX publications (for ASP in particular), but this book was a disappointment. The writing was choppy - as you might expect from a book with 14 guys on the cover. The examples were cryptic and raise more questions than they answer. The author(s) seem to me to be attempting to impress us (and each other) with their knowledge of the subject rather than really trying to write a digestible explanation of ways to utilize XML in an ASP environment.

Best for Programmers to implement XML in ASP:
Excellent! for ones who are pro to ASP and need to intergrate XML with ASP! A must buy!

Best for Programmers to implement XML in ASP:
This is definitely a good book for developers having good knowledge of ASP and XML and how to integrate XML in ASP. I just loved this book. People who say they don't like it, they have not read the book I am sure. Its sure worth the money!

Notice the Dates on the Reviews:
I got this book from a friend and after reading a few chapters I checked the Amazon reviews to see if "it was just me" or if this book was horrible. I was surprised to see it had even 3 1/2 starts. Then I read the reviews carefully... Just days after the book came out, there was a rush of excellent reviews, most of which where only a few sentence long and lacked any detail. Then reality set in. People who really read it, universally hated it. -- And gave detailed examples why. Now, I'm not going to say the original reviews where astroturf... but read them in order and watch the dates. Then consider you have a book with 14 authors all of whom use the internet and know the power of good Amazon reviews... Things just don't add up.