Top ten XML articles and tutorials - September 2007

The ten most popular articles and tutorials for this month were:

1. Simplify Ajax development with jQuery: Discover how easy Ajax and DOM scripting can be

   jQuery is a JavaScript library that helps simplify your JavaScript™ and Asynchronous JavaScript + XML (Ajax) programming. Unlike similar JavaScript libraries, jQuery has a unique philosophy that allows you to express common complex code succinctly. Learn about the jQuery philosophy, discover its features and functions, perform some common Ajax tasks, and find out how to extend jQuery with plug-ins.

2. A simple SOAP client: A general-purpose Java SOAP client

   This article describes a simple, general purpose SOAP client in Java that uses no specialized SOAP libraries. Instead of creating the SOAP request XML document for you under the hood, this client lets you create your own request with any XML editor (or text editor). Instead of merely giving you the remote method's return values, the client shows you the actual SOAP response XML document. The short Java program shows exactly what SOAP is all about: opening up an HTTP connection, sending the appropriate XML to invoke a remote method, and then reading the XML response returned by the server.

3. The Ajax transport method: There's more to Ajax than XMLHttp

   Discover three Ajax data transport mechanisms (XMLHttp, script tags, and frames or iframes) and their relative strengths and weaknesses. This tutorial provides code for both the server side and the client side and explains it in detail to provide the techniques you need to put efficient Ajax controls anywhere you need them.

4. Save time and code with XPath 2.0 and XSLT 2.0: Create easy-to-maintain stylesheets with the to operator, the item data type, and sequences

   Three interesting new features in XPath 2.0 and XSLT 2.0 are the item data type, the to operator, and the concept of sequences. Build a sample application that uses these features to generate a sophisticated HTML view of an XML document, and with the new features in XSLT 2.0, create shorter stylesheets that are easier to maintain. Along the way, spend a bit of time on data typing in XSLT 2.0, and learn to use the new <xsl:function> element.

5. New elements in HTML 5: Structure and semantics

   HTML 5 introduces new elements to HTML for the first time since the last millennium. New structural elements include aside, figure, and section. New inline elements include time, meter, and progress. New embedding elements include video and audio. New interactive elements include details, datagrid, and command.

6. The 15-minute PHP-with-XML starter: Learn how PHP5 vastly improves your work with XML in PHP

   This first article of a three-part series introduces PHP5's XML implementation and helps those relatively new to using XML with PHP to read, parse, and manipulate, and write a short and uncomplicated XML file using the DOM and SimpleXML in a PHP environment.

7. The Java XPath API: Querying XML from Java programs

   XPath expressions are much easier to write than detailed Document Object Model (DOM) navigation code. When you need to extract information from an XML document, the quickest and simplest way is to embed an XPath expression inside your Java™ program. Java 5 introduces the javax.xml.xpath package, an XML object-model independent library for querying documents with XPath.

8. Validating XML: Learn the basics

   In the creation of a database, a data model and integrity constraints can create certainty in the structure and content of the data. But how do you enforce that kind of control when your data is just text in hand-editable files? Fortunately, validating files and documents can make sure that data fits constraints. In this tutorial, you will learn what validation is and how to check a document against a Document Type Definition (DTD) or XML Schema document.

9. Ajax and XML: Ajax for lightboxes: Use Ajax techniques to create lightboxes, pop-ups, windows, and faders

   In a world where everything is designed to amaze and distract, it's awfully difficult to get a user's attention. Learn how to use new techniques such as lightboxes, pop-ups, windows, and fading messages with your Ajax tools to get your users' eyes on your content.

10. Tip: Convert Excel data to XML: Extract data from the popular spreadsheet program

    Believe it or not, not every document is originally written in XML. In this tip, Benoit Marchal explains how to unlock data from Excel files to process them in XML, and examines the pros and cons of different solutions.