reviews/xml_rpc.xml
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<page title="Programming Web Services with XML-RPC" keywords="">
<item>
<p>Authors: Simon St Laurent, Ed Dumbill, Joe Johnston & John Posner</p>
<p>ISBN: <isbn>0596001193</isbn></p>
<p>Publisher: O'Reilly</p>
<p>Reviewed by: <a href="http://www.unixdaemon.net/">Dean Wilson</a></p>
</item><item>
<p>Programming Web Services with XML-RPC is a slim concise volume that cuts
out a lot of the current XML hype that plagues too many recent books and
is all the better for its absence. The first two chapters of the book
contain an overview of the XML-RPC standard itself and provide both a good
overview of the technology and a flavour of the current implementations.
</p>
<p>
The second chapter gives enough technical information to make debugging a
lot simpler and provides the basic grounding you would need to write an
implementation of the protocol if you can find a language that doesn't
currently have support (No small task!).
</p>
<p>
Chapters three through seven form the bulk of the book, each chapter covers
implementing both clients and servers using different languages toolkits.
The
languages covered in this section are Java, Perl, PHP, Python and a chapter
on ASP, VBScript and (Pretty much in name only) COM.
</p>
<p>
The chapters most relevant to me were the Perl chapter, which I found easy
to get
into and provided what I consider a good starting point to making your own
Perl based
XML-RPC apps and the ASP/VBScript chapter.
</p>
<p>
The ASP VBScript chapter is the only language focused one in the book that
breaks the books own format, it covers both the VBScript code and also uses
Perl for testing both ends of the connection. My only disappointment with
this
chapter is that it relegates the mention of the COM based XML-RPC library
to two paragraphs tucked away at the end of the chapter and does no more
than acknowledge its existence and provide a link. Adding another small
section covering its use with something like Visual Basic would have been a
welcome addition.
</p>
<p>
The final chapter off the book does a little evangelism (And if you made
it this far and don't see the need for XML-RPC then this won't sway you) as
well as pointing out some of the considerations you need to be aware of with
XML-RPC such as authentication and state. This has a brief explanation of
other related technologies such as SOAP and WSDL following it before
closing the meat of the book and leading on to the two appendixes.
</p>
<p>
Both of these provide a brief and very to the point description of the
fundamentals that you need to know in XML and HTTP to make your way through
the second chapter of the book. While they are both useful they don't rid
the world of the need for the HTTP and XML pocket references, although it
is good form for O'Reilly to not just put in a line at the start of the
book plugging their other titles.
</p>
<p>
My main issue with the book is one of the reasons I like it so much, with
over two thirds of the book dedicated to different language implementations
of the protocol if you only know one of the languages covered then you may
not get full value for your money since a large chunk of the book will sit
unread. The book is however a good introduction and an easy read on a
subject I've yet to covered adequately elsewhere.
</p>
<p>
Something I do feel needs a special mention is the foreword. While the
forewords in most books are a little pointless Dave Winer, one of the main
men in the XML-RPC and SOAP worlds, has penned this one and it's difficult
to read it without picking up on some of his enthusiasm for the subject
matter. Its only a small thing but it adds a nice touch to the book.
</p>
</item>
</page>
reviews/xml_rpc.xml
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<page title="Programming Web Services with XML-RPC" keywords="">
<item>
<p>Authors: Simon St Laurent, Ed Dumbill, Joe Johnston & John Posner</p>
<p>ISBN: <isbn>0596001193</isbn></p>
<p>Publisher: O'Reilly</p>
<p>Reviewed by: <a href="http://www.unixdaemon.net/">Dean Wilson</a></p>
</item><item>
<p>Programming Web Services with XML-RPC is a slim concise volume that cuts
out a lot of the current XML hype that plagues too many recent books and
is all the better for its absence. The first two chapters of the book
contain an overview of the XML-RPC standard itself and provide both a good
overview of the technology and a flavour of the current implementations.
</p>
<p>
The second chapter gives enough technical information to make debugging a
lot simpler and provides the basic grounding you would need to write an
implementation of the protocol if you can find a language that doesn't
currently have support (No small task!).
</p>
<p>
Chapters three through seven form the bulk of the book, each chapter covers
implementing both clients and servers using different languages toolkits.
The
languages covered in this section are Java, Perl, PHP, Python and a chapter
on ASP, VBScript and (Pretty much in name only) COM.
</p>
<p>
The chapters most relevant to me were the Perl chapter, which I found easy
to get
into and provided what I consider a good starting point to making your own
Perl based
XML-RPC apps and the ASP/VBScript chapter.
</p>
<p>
The ASP VBScript chapter is the only language focused one in the book that
breaks the books own format, it covers both the VBScript code and also uses
Perl for testing both ends of the connection. My only disappointment with
this
chapter is that it relegates the mention of the COM based XML-RPC library
to two paragraphs tucked away at the end of the chapter and does no more
than acknowledge its existence and provide a link. Adding another small
section covering its use with something like Visual Basic would have been a
welcome addition.
</p>
<p>
The final chapter off the book does a little evangelism (And if you made
it this far and don't see the need for XML-RPC then this won't sway you) as
well as pointing out some of the considerations you need to be aware of with
XML-RPC such as authentication and state. This has a brief explanation of
other related technologies such as SOAP and WSDL following it before
closing the meat of the book and leading on to the two appendixes.
</p>
<p>
Both of these provide a brief and very to the point description of the
fundamentals that you need to know in XML and HTTP to make your way through
the second chapter of the book. While they are both useful they don't rid
the world of the need for the HTTP and XML pocket references, although it
is good form for O'Reilly to not just put in a line at the start of the
book plugging their other titles.
</p>
<p>
My main issue with the book is one of the reasons I like it so much, with
over two thirds of the book dedicated to different language implementations
of the protocol if you only know one of the languages covered then you may
not get full value for your money since a large chunk of the book will sit
unread. The book is however a good introduction and an easy read on a
subject I've yet to covered adequately elsewhere.
</p>
<p>
Something I do feel needs a special mention is the foreword. While the
forewords in most books are a little pointless Dave Winer, one of the main
men in the XML-RPC and SOAP worlds, has penned this one and it's difficult
to read it without picking up on some of his enthusiasm for the subject
matter. Its only a small thing but it adds a nice touch to the book.
</p>
</item>
</page>