The top 10 pointers to XML information online

The top 10 pointers to XML information online
Ed Tittel

The "Best XML Web Links" area on www.searchxmlresources.com contains more information than anyone could cover in a month of Sundays. But I found myself confronted with a bounty of information when looking for pointers to a few well-known XML resources online. By comparing what I found in the "Best Links" area to the dozen or so pointers I keep in my Web browser favorites list, I quickly realized that building a favorites list of resources will be the fastest way to information when you know what you're looking for. The search engine helped me, but many of my searches for popular sites (such as Elliotte Rusty Harold's excellent "Cafi Con Leche" or Simon St. Laurent's XML-focused site) turned up too many hits.

So here's a brief description of my personal "Top 10 XML Related Web Sites," in no particular order:

1. Elliotte Rusty Harold has written several terrific books on XML, and his "Cafi con Leche" Web site is an excellent source for XML related news, reviews, tutorials, and other useful information. Check it out at: http://www.ibiblio.org/xml/; longer term, try http://www.cafeconleche.org/.
2. Simon St. Laurent has also written several useful books on XML and XHTML and manages a busy and well-visited XHTML mailing list. Check out his Web site at http://www.simonstl.com.
3. Microsoft has all kinds of cool XML related information, tools, and downloads at http://msdn.microsoft.com/xml/. Sounds fishy, but worth a look (and regular visits thereafter).
4. Robin Cover's "XML Cover Pages" at the OASIS site rivals the "Best XML Web Links" at this site in terms of coverage, and is a little better organized (at least, as far as I'm concerned). When you're looking for enlightenment on obscure, emerging, or current XML topics, this is a great place to start searching for same. Be sure to check out the "other OASIS XML site," too--namely, www.xml.org, which advertises itself as "the XML industry portal."
5. O'Reilly & Associates XML.com is another excellent resource for XML information of all kinds, particularly if you're interested in the "O'Reilly spin" on such topics. Because that can lead to information from their great publications this is by no means a bad thing!
6. A confederation of well-informed Czechs stands behind the outstanding Zvon Web site, which devotes itself to tools and education on a variety of XML topics and applications. Definitely not a general-purpose pointer to other resources, Zvon is a great place to turn for some terrific tools and tutorials, including some great recent documentation on XHTML and XSLT.
7. Fawcette Technical Publications runs a pretty good online magazine entitled--you guessed it--XML Magazine. Definitely worth repeat visits, I've found the magazine useful enough to subscribe to the print edition. In addition to current articles, sponsored white papers, it also includes pointers to all kinds of XML resources (check the left-hand menu under the XML entry). Check it out at http://www.xmlmag.com/.
8. James Tauber's been an SGML geek forever, and has been active with XML since its inception. His XMLInfo Web site is a great source of information, opinion, and pointers to XML resources galore. Visit the site at http://www.xmlinfo.com/.
9. For hardcore XML developers, nothing beats the news, reviews, information, and pointers at http://www.xmlhack.com. Several of the authors mentioned in this list also write for this site, and lots of other luminaries drop in with information, opinions, and news reports.
10. The Web Developer's Library is a great resource; it provides pointers to tutorials, examples, tools, and more. Scope out their XML area at http://wdvl.internet.com/Authoring/Languages/XML/.

Having gone this far with my hit parade, I realize I could go on and on in this vein. But then, we'd be back in the same swamp that it's so easy to find yourself in. Think of these pointers as pathways to a plethora of information, and use them wisely and well to find the XML resources you need.

Happy New Year!

Ed Tittel is a principal at LANWrights, Inc.: a wholly owned subsidiary of LeapIt.com. LANwrights offers training, writing and consulting services on Internet, networking, and Web topics (including XML and XHTML), plus various IT certifications (Microsoft, Sun/Java, and Prosoft/CIW).

While you are perusing Ed's link list, don't forget that you can find tons of information about XML development at our site, http://www.searchxmlresources.com/.
And don't forget to visit our sister site, www.searchebusiness.com, for links on a number of e-commerce topics.