Introduction to XML: A training course

Abstract

This introduction to XML explains the purpose, use cases and benefits of XML. It provides a very high-level overview of the many XML-related technologies in use today, for example validation tools (DTDs, schemas), XML transformation and query languages (XPath, XSLT, XQuery, XSL-FO), XML programming APIs (SAX, DOM, StaX, Data Binding). The course also includes detailed coverage of XML namespaces.

Duration

1-2 days (usually combined with other courses)

Schedule

To schedule a class, please contact us at pwalmsley@datypic.com.

Topics covered

1. XML: The business proposition
   • Purpose and benefits
   • Common use cases for XML
   • Output methods
2. XML: A technical Introduction
   • Basic XML syntax
   • Documents, elements and attributes
   • Encoding, special characters and escapes
   • Additional XML components (entities, comments, PIs)
3. Namespaces in XML
   • Purpose
   • Declaring namespaces
4. XML schema languages: An introduction
   • The purpose of schemas
   • Comparison of common schema languages: DTD, W3C XML Schema, RELAX NG, Schematron
   • A simple schema example
5. XPath
   • What is XPath?
   • Accessing elements and attributes using path expressions
   • XPath functions and operators
6. XSLT
   • What is XSLT?
   • XSLT use cases
   • A simple stylesheet example
7. Styling XML
   • X(HTML)/CSS for the Web
   • XSL-FO for print/PDF
8. XML databases and queries
   • XML database scenarios
   • XML vs. relational databases
   • The basics of XQuery
9. Web Services and SOA
   • What are Web Services?
   • Web Services standards: WSDL and SOAP
   • REST Web services
10. Programming with XML: An overview
    • XML APIs (SAX, DOM, StaX, etc.)
    • Data binding tools