XML Quickstart for Programmers

XML Quickstart for Programmers is a five-day course covering XML concepts, XML well-formedness, XML Namespaces, XML Information Set, W3C Schemas, DTDs, XInclude, XPath, XSLT, XLink, XPointer, and the use of the SAX and DOM APIs.

Intended Audience

XML Quickstart for Programmers is designed for developers who are interested in learning how they might use XML in development projects.

Course Format

This five-day course consists of lecture, group discussions, written exercises, and hands-on programming exercises.

Prerequisites

Students taking the XML Quickstart for Programmers course should be comfortable with computer programming. Knowledge of object-oriented programming concepts is a benefit.

Course Description

XML Quickstart for Programmers begins with a discussion of what is XML at a high level: who the W3C is, why they created XML, and how generalized markup works. Following the introduction, the course leads into well-formed XML syntax, followed by XML Namespaces, then the importance of the XML Information Set. After that, the course addresses processing well-formed XML by learning how to write applications using the Simple API for XML (SAX) and the Document Object Model (DOM).

The course then turns to validation of XML documents. It addresses first the logical layer of XML documents with W3C Schemas, followed by Document Type Definitions (DTDs). It then addresses the physical structure and how XInclude, XLink, and DTDs each address the issue. The section closes with validation issues that surround SAX and DOM applications.

The following sections of the course explore some of the technicalities of XML such as Unicode and validating vs. non-validating parsers and how they work differently, as well as the concept of data modeling. Moving back to syntax, the course then turns to addressing and rendering XML first using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and then rendering in multiple output formats using XML Path Language (XPath) to address parts of the XML document and the eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) to transform parts of the document for output. Finally, several related XML technologies are discussed including XLink and XPointer. The wrap up section at the end of the course discusses tools and resources for XML developers.

Course Outline

XML Concepts

• The W3C and XML
• What is generalized markup?
• XML family of related technologies

The XML Document

• Identifying structure and data in documents
• Well-formed XML
• Valid XML
• Names in XML
• Element content
• Predefined entities in XML
• CDATA sections
• Attributes
• Processing Instructions
• Comments
• Unicode character references XML

Namespaces

• What Namespaces are for
• How Namespaces work
• Unique identifiers
• Scoping of documents

Processing XML

• The Simple API for XML (SAX)
  • SAX programming model
  • Writing a SAX application
• The Document Object Model (DOM)
  • DOM programming model
  • Writing a DOM application
• SAX vs. DOM

Valid XML

• Logical Structure: W3C Schemas
  • Schema Type Hierarchy
  • Schema Structures: Simple Types Schema
  • Structures: Complex Types
  • Schema Structures: Content Models
  • Occurrence Constraints
  • Default and Fixed Values
  • Schema Design Patterns
• Logical Structure: DTDs
  • Elements
  • Attributes
• Physical Structure: XInclude and XLink
• Physical Structure: Entities

XML Technicalities

• Validating vs. non-validating parsers
• Normalization of attribute values
• Compatibility and interoperability
• Unicode
• White space handling

Data Modeling

• Retrofitting existing structured data
• Abstracting a data model

Validation Issues with SAX and DOM

• Validation in SAX
• DOM DOCTYPE node and entity node

Addressing XML: XPath

• Axis
• Node tests
• Predicates

Rendering and Transformation

• Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
• Extensible Stylesheet Language for Transformations (XSLT)

XML Linking

• XLink: Making Links Smart
• XPointer: Pointing Inside XML Documents

XML Wrap-up

• W3C Architecture
• Other W3C and related initiatives