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Blog Entry
No Nonsense XML
Published on the 13th of August 2005
No Nonsense XML Web Development With PHP (external link) arrived at my doorstep late last week. This good sized book marks my first PHP book and an exciting new adventure for me. XML Web Development has always interested me, but finding quality resources for that area of programming can be difficult.
I've read through the first few chapters, and I'm hoping to finish the book this week. There is a ton of useful information within the first few chapters, but it looks like the PHP/XML work comes later in the book.
In the past XML work was quite confusing with PHP's SAX functions not providing the easiest way to process XML, and the DOM XML functions not cutting it. PHP5 changed the world of XML development with revised DOM functions and SimpleXML. Even though we have the more powerful methods of XML processing, most application developers cannot use them as web host just refuse to update their PHP installation.
PHP5 is not unstable, as webhost claim. I run PHP5 perfectly on my home computer without any problems, along with all of the other latest technologies. I think that this shows the dependability of webhost on automatic setup software.
Until webhost upgrade their systems, SAX will remain the best way to process XML files. Although it ends up looking like long twisted code, it works in both PHP4 and PHP5.
If you're interested in XML and PHP development you should take a look at the sample chapters (external link).
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