This concise book gives you the information you need to effectively use the Simple API for XML (SAX2), the dominant API for efficient XML processing with Java. With the SAX2 API, developers have access to the information in XML documents as they are read, without imposing major memory constraints or a large code footprint. SAX2 is often used by other APIs "under the covers", and provides a foundation for processing and creating both XML and non-XML information. While generally considered the most efficient approach to handling XML document parsing, SAX2 also carries a significant learning curve. In SAX2, author David Brownell explores the many details of managing XML parsers, filtering the information those parsers return, generating your own SAX2 events to convert non-XML information to an XML form, and developing strategies for using event-based parsing in a variety of application scenarios. Created in a public process by the XML-Dev mailing list, the SAX2 API is compact and highly functional. SAX2 uses callbacks to report the information in an XML document as the document is read, allowing you to create your own program structures around the content of documents. No intermediary model of an entire XML document is necessary, and the mapping from XML structures to Java structures and back is straightforward. Both developers learning about SAX2 for the first time and developers returning for reference and advanced material about SAX2 will find useful information in this book. Chapters provide detailed explanations and examples of many different aspects of SAX2 development, while appendices provide a reference to the API and an explanation of the relationships between the SAX2 API and the XML Information Set. While the core of the API is quite approachable, many of its more advanced features are both obscure and powerful. You can use SAX2 to filter, modify, and restructure information in layers of processing which make it easy to reuse generic tools. SAX2 also has some significant limitations that applications need to address in their own ways. This new book gives you the detail and examples required to use SAX2 to its full potential, taking advantage of its power while avoiding its limitations.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 4 Ratings

a solid work piece of work - 2002-01-28
Reviewer Rating:
David Brownell's new book is a solid piece of work, containing many useful insights that can only come from someone who works with SAX day in and day out. It has already answered many of the questions I have had about SAX that I have not been able to find elsewhere, at least not readily.

I really like the way the book progresses naturally from the basics of the API to more advanced concepts. And there are plenty of examples and that is a key, I think, to the success of a technical book -- that it can actually demonstrate the concepts it teaches in a way that can be quickly grasped and even implemented. The book is brief, concise, and very up to date as well.

I think just about any SAX programmer will learn something new and worthwhile from this book. While I found a few typos in the book, they are easy to forgive in light of the overall value of the book.

Poorly written - 2002-07-17
Reviewer Rating:
I bought this one for my IBM XML Certification Exam.

But after reading 4 chapters I must say that the book is poorly written. This book confirms to me that insight is one thing and ability to express the ideas is another.

The book is divided into 6 chapters. There are some good programs that are small and crispy. But the explanations are awkward. There are some mistakes/typos as well.

detail and deeply. - 2003-08-07
Reviewer Rating:
Most books introduce the SAX with one or two chapters, providung the basic concept and use of SAX. However if you want to learn more detail of SAX and bring SAX into play well, this book will help you reach these.

I think this book is not suiatable for SAX begginers. If you want to begging SAX, you may reading the SAX chapter in the general books of XML before reading this book. And I recommend the book "Begging XML" (David Hunter, Wrox).

Though a little hard to reading, this book provide many useful and valuable example code. And it really discuss every topic deeply and in detail, so readers should take time to understand the core meaning of the author.

Bad writing - 2002-03-03
Reviewer Rating:
have finished 3 chapters. Nothing great as yet as far as content is concerned.
I picked this book because it is written by someone who manages SAX API. But unfortunately the writing is NOT clear. Normally oreilly books are an easy read. Am finding this to be confusing :-(

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