Reviews for Beginning XML with C# 2008: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in .Net)

1. Good coverage and structure, but code samples irritate

   Rated 3 out of 5 stars, April 12th, 2010

   Needed a refresher on the XML manipulation classes in .NET framework. From this perspective the coverage is wide enough. Each area is covered using a code sample followed by an explanation of what the code does. The explanations are fairly regimented in style which makes for consistency (although it feels like a machine has processed each line and spat out a translation to a type of pseudo-code).
   
   However, the code samples do not use any conventions for naming of controls and global/local variables. This makes the code samples very dependent on the explanations, which even then is not enough in my view. I don't like this and sometimes the only way to get the full picture is to download the code.
   
   e.g. I don't find button1 or label6 very intuitive to follow. It might be perceived as a small point but this one runs through the entire book. When you look inside the book on amazon you cannot see an example of this, but go to the apress site, search on xml and do a google preview to see what I mean.
   
   To compensate I've ended up coding all the examples myself and substituted in better names and some extra comments. "Practice makes perfect" as the saying goes, and this extra activity has boosted my understanding, but surely a book like this should be independent of having to code to understand. I think the book would be a 4 or 5 star book if this aspect was covered better.

2. Good overview of XML in C#

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, February 12th, 2010

   It gives an overview, and examples of use, of the different XML manipulation classes in C# in chapters 1 to 4 (about first 1/4 of the book)
   This is want I wanted and it does it very well indeed.
   Can't really comment on the other chapters as I haven't used them.
   
   

3. Exactly what I was looking for

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, October 12th, 2009

   I needed a book which showed the best practices for using XML in C# and this book hit the nail on the head. It expects you to be familiar with C# and XML however the author is very clear in the descriptions and analysis.

4. Superb book

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, December 12nd, 2008

   I have been a developer for 10 years and found this book an excellent introduction for novice and expert. It covers XML use within C# .NET in great detail. This is the only book you will ever need. I have already used it in a project that relied heavily on XML parsing in C#.
   Superb book, just keep in mind that it is not an introduction to XML, it is an introduction to System.Xml in .NET