“In this article, we’ll look at the cultural clash between three groups often involved in Web projects: Front-end developers, information architects and visual designers. Then I’ll describe an XML-based framework I used successfully to expedite production of a 600-page commercial Web site.”

“In his opening keynote at XML Europe 2001 in Berlin, Tim Bray explained how XML could make the Web more interesting — specifically, the Web’s user interface. Bray recounted that many members of the original team that created XML envisaged its application in web-enabled client document rendering systems, providing flexible user interfaces for exploring content. Instead XML seems to have found its immediate application in the backroom, connecting databases and disparate server systems. One of the most well-known uses of XML in this scenario is the SOAP protocol, which allows message passing between applications using XML and HTTP.”

“This article presents a simple, hands-on exercise that demonstrates the principles of the Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT). It takes about an hour to complete the concept exercises and about 15 minutes at a computer to try out the results with a real XSLT processor.”

“We look at how RSS has evolved from its humble beginnings through present day and beyond. We survey all versions of RSS, including a feature comparison, a new RSS usage survey, plus format and validation information. Learn how the newest versions of RSS will move us towards a more Semantic Web.”

“As XML becomes more pervasive, hiring managers won’t have to look very hard to find candidates claiming to have experience working on projects involving XML. Despite this trend, it is still not an easy task to find a truly skilled XML developer. This fact, combined with the increasing compensation awarded to job candidates, makes hiring the right people one of the most important parts of any IT project. Consequently, the list of questions below is intended to be a guide for managers faced with the task of filling positions within their organizations that require a solid understanding of the foundations of XML-related technologies.”

“This paper briefly discusses the relationship between XML and databases and describes some of the types of software available to process XML documents with databases. Although it is not intended to be exhaustive, I hope that it describes some of the major issues in using XML with databases. It is somewhat biased towards relational databases simply because that is where my experience is.”

“When I envision an XML development team, I picture several people with different skill sets. For example, an information architect, or what we may once have called a ‘knowledge engineer,’ possesses the background and aptitude for designing and implementing document structure. That’s the DTD or schema developer. Distinctly different is the software engineer who uses APIs like SAX or the Document Object Model (DOM) to access and process documents programmatically. And then there’s a transformation specialist. This is, in my mind, someone who uses the XSL Transformation language (XSLT) to convert, translate, and transform XML into other formats, often for the purpose of data exchange with other systems. The problem arises because this last person, or more importantly his or her skill set, isn’t very well understood. Most managers push these responsibilities onto their user-interface designers. After all, these are style sheets, right?”

“This document specifies VoiceXML, the Voice Extensible Markup Language. VoiceXML is designed for creating audio dialogs that feature synthesized speech, digitized audio, recognition of spoken and DTMF key input, recording of spoken input, telephony, and mixed-initiative conversations. Its major goal is to bring the advantages of web-based development and content delivery to interactive voice response applications.”

“Intrigued by the idea of voice access to back-end applications, my research into VoiceXML and related technologies led me across the path of a very cool online tool that supports 100% online VoiceXML application development. The online development tool (and let me say that this may be the first time I’ve ever referred to a Web site as a ‘development tool’!) is Tellme Studio and it is a living testament to the power of XML-based technologies.”

“The Semantic Web lies at the heart of Tim Berners-Lee’s vision for the future of the World Wide Web. Along with others at the W3C Berners-Lee is working on the infrastructure for this next stage of the Web’s life. But the question ‘What is the Semantic Web?’ is being asked with increasing frequency. While mainstream media is content with a high level view, XML developers want to know more, and they want to discover the substance behind the vision.”

“XMacL offers Mac users relevant XML news and resource links. While the promise of XML (eXtensible Markup Language) as a tool for information exchange among computing platforms and software applications is beginning to be realized, XML support in software for the Macintosh has been limited compared to that for some other operating systems.”

“UIML is an XML language for defining user interfaces. Most XML languages are used for defining documents. In other words, they allow programs to break up alot of words, pictures and other data into useful chunks that can be processed by a program. UIML, on the other hand is used for defining the actual interface elements.”

“This service uses a generic webdata transformation service (an XSLT server) to convert from a dialect of XHTML to the proposed RSS 1.0 channel format. Goal: author in XHTML, syndicate in RSS. …Specifically, we provide a Web form that you can use to turn certain kinds of HTML document into the proposed RSS 1.0 channel / syndication format. This approach is designed to free content authors from the technical detail of evolving formats such as RSS, WAP/WML, RDF etc. Instead of learning dozens of new acronyms, content creators can produce XHTML documents, and have software tools do the rest.”

“This document contains the most frequently-asked questions (with answers) about XML, the Extensible Markup Language. It is intended as a first resource for users, developers, and the interested reader, and does not form part of the XML Specification.”

“WebML enables designers to express the core features of a site at a high level, without committing to low-level architectural details. WebML concepts are associated to an intuitive graphic representation, which can be supported by CASE tools with user-friendly interfaces, and can be communicated to users and non-technical members of the site development team (e.g., to graphic designers and content producers). WebML also supports an internal XML syntax, which instead can be fed to software generators for automatically producing the implementation of a Web site.”