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XML is one of the most pervasive technologies in programming today.
Regardless of your platform or programming language, you will be touched
by XML. XML is being used for communications between machines and layers
of an application, dynamic web site content, configuration or your
applications, documentation and much more.
XML, however, is simply a string with tags to make its data easy to
parse. It is the technologies surrounding XML that make it really
exciting. With this in mind, this course will tackle the syntax of XML
in the first few hours of the course and move quickly onto XSD (XML
Schemas which give your XML data structure and type safety), XSLT (An
XML based scripting language for rendering your data (XML) into a number
of formats, SAX and DOM (two very popular parsers that give your
applications access to the data) and Web Services (which use XML to
communicate between machines or even different Operating Systems).
While we are learning how to do all of this, we will be teaching you,
not only the technologies but also, the premier XML Editor on the
market.
- Josh Holmes
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XML / XML Spy 2004 Bootcamp!
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Lead Instructor: Kyle Griffin
The ONLY Authorized Course on XML Spy 2004
-or any version, for that matter!
XMLSpyBootCamp is a 3-day, hands-on intense immersion in learning XML using XML Spy 2004. Starting with XML fundamentals and mark-up, and moving quickly to style-sheets (XSL and XSLT using the XSLT Designer in XML Spy) and validation (DTD's and Schemas, plus the XML Spy Schema Editor and IE plug-in), the course covers both the DOM and the SAX parser, as well as server-side XML and SOAP. Taught in a rigorous, hands-on fashion by professionals such as Josh Holmes (who wrote the XML Spy BootCamp course), you'll complete this class knowing exactly how to utilize the latest features of XML Spy 2004 for building a variety of applications using XML.
Here's what previous students of our XML BootCamps have said.
Register for a Public presentation of this Class
Request an On-Site presentation of this Class
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What you'll learn at our XML BootCamp
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- XML Spy IDE Features: the Enhanced Grid View, the Schema
Editor, Project Management
- XML Spy Suite Features: the XSLT Designer, the Document
Editor
- XML fundamentals
- How to walk document trees and manipulate structures
using the DOM
- How to transform XML using XSL
- How to write programs that manipulate XML in the client
- How to write programs that dynamically generate XML on
the server
- How to define new vocabularies using DTD or XML Schema
syntax
- How to build a system that serves XML
- How to display XML in any client
browser, regardless of its capabilities
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Originally designed to solve the World Wide
Web's compatibility problems, XML is a data representation language that
promotes the separation of data, presentation, and programming logic.
Because XML is used to "describe" data, it can be used
anywhere data is found. XML is gaining popularity because it is both
extensible in that it allows you to define your own elements, and it is
platform neutral. As a result, XML is affecting virtually every area in
modern computing. Specifically, XML is being used:
- As
a new way to represent data.
XML includes features that allow you to "tag" data in such
a way that it becomes "self-describing", thus allowing
various applications to handle the same data set in different ways.
- To
exchange data between heterogeneous systems.
By defining specialized vocabularies, XML allows B2B partners to
share data. Once two partners have agreed upon a vocabulary, XML
acts as a data exchange format.
- To
access and manipulate data programmatically.
XML provides standard APIs that provide programming hooks into the
data, allowing developers to access any tagged element.
- To
transform data from one format to another.
Using XML's complimentary style sheet transformation language,
developers can transform data to virtually any other format. For
example, developers can transform properties from a database form
into SQL queries, from one protocol to another, or even Java
statements to C++.
- In
applications ranging from database applications, transaction
processing, content syndication, middleware and traditional Web
publishing.
This 3-day intensive course lays the groundwork for understanding and
using XML, and shows how XML can be applied to real-world business
problems. Students will learn the methodologies for separating data,
logic, and presentation, how to access and modify XML documents via the
Document Object Model (DOM), transform XML using XSL, and create new
vocabularies using document type definitions and XML Schemas.
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XML Spy IDE is the award-winning Integrated Development
Environment for the eXtensible Markup Language that includes all major aspects
of XML in one powerful and easy-to-use product:
- XML editing and validation,
- SCHEMA and DTD editing and
- XSL editing and validation.
- XSL Debugging
XML Spy is centered around a professional quality
validating XML editor that provides five advanced views on your documents:
- an Enhanced Grid View for structured editing,
- a Database/Table view that shows repeated elements in a
tabular fashion,
- a Text View with syntax-coloring for low-level work,
- a graphical XML Schema design view, and
- an integrated Browser View that supports both CSS and XSL
style-sheets.
In this course, you'll learn to leverage each of the features of XML Spy to make you as productive as you can be creating and manipulating XML.
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Why the Web, JavaScript, ASP?
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First,
it's important to note that XML began on the Web. More importantly, XML can be
used in an infinite number of ways at all levels of the development cycle. We
have found that the Web server makes the perfect teaching platform for conveying
XML concepts because the Web is easily understood, the technology does not
obscure the more important issues related to XML, and it offers the opportunity
to attack data, style sheet transformations, presentation and
programming-related issues in a single environment. The Web server offers all of
this in a real-world environment that gives immediate feedback.
Web
developers and Webmasters will find this course to be directly relevant to their
work. However, application and software developers will also be able to apply
the techniques in this course to any XML application.
To
summarize, the Web is used because:
Web/XML
technologies currently tend to be more stable and robust
Web
development provides an ideal learning platform to explore XML at multiple
levels that include:
XML syntax
XSL Style sheet development
DOM Programming
Client- and Server-side development
XML and database development
JavaScript
is used because it is:
Vendor
neutral
Broadly
supported
Familiar
and easily understood by programmers of different disciplines (C++, Java,
VB, etc.)
Active
Server Pages (ASP) are employed because:
While
the course focus is not on Web servers, ASP is a common and convenient means
for dynamically generating Web pages on the server.
ASP
(and IIS) are broadly used throughout the industry
ASP's
can be run on most Web platforms (requires third-party technologies)
We
cover just enough ASP to generate XML
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The XML BootCamp Experience
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XML Spy BootCamp is about two things: intensive learning and
having fun doing it!
To make
this possible, we've created an environment where you can learn a LOT in
a relatively short period of time. First, we picked a desirable,
easy-to-reach location (see our BootCamp Venues). Second, we picked a venue that will offer us a space for
ourselves, an ingestion of high-performance goodies (snacks, coffee,
sodas, juices, food), and a comfortable working environment (a
comfortable meeting area, room to work).
We've
also designed a curriculum -- and a way of presenting it -- that
delivers intensive, high-speed learning. Part of our approach is to
present the theory behind XML early, and repeat it at intervals. But the
main focus is on solving real problems with a solid approach. We'll line
up problems, and we'll knock 'em down, and we'll line up more.
To this
end, XML Spy BootCamp sessions are dynamic, resulting from a combination
of:
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Lecture
(to present in-depth information)
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Workshop
(to show how material presented in the lecture is to be utilized and
applied)
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Exercises
(to let you obtain HANDS-ON experience in designing using the ideas
being presented)
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Q&A
(where we'll review the ideas and exercises, and show new approaches
and techniques that were not part of the exercises)
The
Exercises are part of a 150-page workbook that shows you -- through
screen-shots, examples, and design diagrams -- exactly HOW you should
complete each one successfully. To encourage you to work the Exercises,
we'll provide a working lunch (with great food!) each
day so that you can make steady progress and get questions answered as
you go.
We'll
also focus on having fun: XML is about communication. The best designs
flow from one mind, but is checked and improved by many. So while there
are individual exercises, there are others that we'll work as a group or
in smaller, sub-groups.
In all,
we're certain that you'll:
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Learn
a lot
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Design
a lot of systems
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Have
a good -- if not great -- time doing it
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You must be familiar with
fundamental concepts in web or software development, such as:
- HTTP servers
- HTML and CSS
- A programming or scripting language
We will spend very little time on,
but we do use, the following basic concepts:
- Tagging
languages such as HTML
- Programming
browsers
- DHTML
Sorry, no hand-holding here: we assume you have been part of a development
effort (while acknowledging that few people can be involved in every aspect).
You do not need to be a programmer: managers, testers, and documenters
can benefit from XML.
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