Pro PHP XML and Web Services

Book Description

Pro PHP XML and Web Services is the authoritative guide to using the XML features of PHP 5 and PHP 6. No other book covers XML and Web Services in PHP as deeply as this title. The first four chapters introduce the core concepts of XML required for proficiency, and will bring you up to speed on the terminology and key concepts you need to proceed with the rest of the book. Next, the book explores utilizing XML and Web Services with PHP5. Topics include DOM, SimpleXML, SAX, xmlReader, XSLT, RDF, RSS, WDDX, XML-RPC, REST, SOAP, and UDDI.

Author Robert Richards, a major contributor to the PHP XML codebase, is a leading expert in the PHP community. In this book, Richards covers all topics in depth, blending theory with practical examples. You'll find case studies for the most popular web services like Amazon, Google, eBay, and Yahoo. The book also covers XML capabilities, demonstrated through informative examples, in the PEAR libraries.

Reviews From AMAZON.COM

Great PHP XML Reference

'Pro PHP XML and Web Services' by Robert Richards is a great book to help you learn your way around these technologies. Packing in over 900+ pages, this book gives a broad overview of the subject matter which is outlined here:

01. Introduction to XML and Web Services
02. XML Structure
03. Validation
04. XPath, XPointer, XInclude
05. PHP and XML
06. Document Object Model
07. SimpleXML
08. Simple API for XML
09. XMLReader
10. Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations
11. Effective and Efficient Processing
12. XML Security
13. PEAR and XML
14. Content Syndication: RSS and Atom
15. Web Distributed Data Exchange
16. XML-RPC
17. Representational State Transfer
18. SOAP
19. Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI)
20. PEAR and Web Services
21. Other XML Technologies and Extensions

If you need a book that dives into the XML technology and doesn't look back, this is a nice pickup that gets the job done. Lots of other Apress books I feel are a bit too long, but this book at over 900 pages I have less complaints about. It's solidly written and a nice companion book to have on your bookshelf for anyone that programs with XML.

**** RECOMMENDED

Heavy Metal XML

This is first and foremost an XML reference. The author takes the reader through over 100 pages XML background in the first three chapters, then an overview of a few utilities like XPath and XPointer before he touches on PHP. Having provided some grounding in the basics, he then proceeds to develop the use of XML in PHP from the basic topics of DOM (Document Object Model) and XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) to the more advanced topics of SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and web services.

Along the way Richards introduces the reader to utility classes like SimpleXML, SAX (Simple API for XML), XMLReader. He also touches on PEAR (PHP Extension and Application Repository) utility classes and topics like security, RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration). The author's examples are reasonably concise and readable; making the necessary points without getting carried away.

The bottom line is that this is a highly effective reference (that means fairly comprehensive, but dry reading; I read cover to cover, but it was relatively tedious) on XML and its varied uses in association with PHP. This is not a book for the newcomer to programming, nor is it a cookbook for examples for the casual programmer/web developer, although the author does provide PEAR examples for connecting with major web services like Amazon, Google and Yahoo (among others). My suggestion for readers is to review what you need of the first 11-12 chapters to ensure a firm grounding in XML, and then hop to the chapters specific to the problem being faced.
P-)