The most interesting section is tucked away at the end. There are three case studies, one describing an e-commerce site, another a message board and the last a business-to-business application. The case studies put the rest of the book into context and show how XML can be useful in the real world.

This is a useful general introduction to XML, but there are limitations. First, aside from the chapter on SAX, the examples are generally based on Microsoft's XML parser, and those who are implementing XML solutions on non-Microsoft platforms, or who intend to work mainly with XML and Java, would be better seeking out an alternative such as Java and XML. Second, coverage for some more advanced topics, such as XML and databases, is sketchy so you are likely to need other books alongside this one. Even so, XML newcomers will find plenty of content here to get them up to speed. --Tim Anderson