Amazon.Com Review Amid The Technical Hoopla Over The Extensible Markup Language (Xml), Many Managers And Executives Find Themselves Scratching Their Heads And Wondering What The New Language Means To Them. In Xml: A Manager'S Guide, Author Kevin Dick Offers An Executive Summary Of This Exciting New Technology That Focuses On The Big Picture. This Book Is A Quick Read, Partly Due To Its Bulleted Format. Frequent Topic Headings And Accompanying Blurbs In The Margin For Each Make It Easy For Even Hurried Readers To Pick Up The Key Concepts Quickly. However, The Author Doesn'T Cut Any Corners In Describing The Basic Nature Of Xml And Its Associated Standards And Tools. The First Part Of The Book Is Devoted To This High-Level Tutorial And Includes Useful Diagrams And Code Examples That Nonprogrammers Can Easily Understand. The Most Instructive Part Of The Book Comes In The Second Half. Here, The Author Illustrates Some Of The Ways Xml Can Be Useful In The Real World And Does A Great Job Of Demonstrating The Wide-Reaching Applications Of Xml. Five Example Applications For Enterprises And Five More For Vendors Are Presented In Miniature Case Studies. Here The Reader Will See How Xml Can Be Used For Workflow, Data Integration, Distributed Protocols, Knowledge Management, And More. --Stephen W. Plaintopics Covered: Xml Standards Background, Document Type Definitions, Schemas, Xlink, Xsl, Xslt, Development Tools, Associated Standard Status, Xml Application Examples. Product Description Xml - A Manager*S Guide From The Inside Flap Purpose Of This Book Extensible Markup Language (Xml) Is An Exciting New Technology For Exchanging Structured Information Over Intranets, Extranets, And The Internet. As With Many New Software Technologies, Information Flows Into The Developer Community First. This Flow Starts Electronically With E-Mail Lists, Newsgroups, And Technical Web Sites. Then Technology References, Developer Guides, And Tutorials Appear On Bookstore Shelves. After Developers Use A Technology To Create Some Inspiring Prototypes, The Computing Press Usually Latches On To The Trend. Articles Hail It As The Solution To A Wide Variety Of Application Development Problems. Executives Take Notice Of The Press Coverage. They May Even Hear About Internal "Skunkworks" Projects. Quickly, They Want Assessments Of How The Technology Will Affect Their Organizations. Managers Get Caught In The Middle. They Are At An Information Disadvantage When It Comes To Assessing The Benefits Of The Technology And Managing Its Use. On The One Hand, Developers Are Pushing From The Bottom To Use The Technology On Projects. On The Other Hand, Executives Are Pushing From The Top For Formal Technology Planning. Unfortunately, Information Resources Targeted Specifically At Managers Are Usually Extremely Limited. Therefore, Managers Must Often Resort To A Time-Consuming Process Of Scanning Volumes Of Developer-Oriented Details And Dissecting Executive Summaries To Synthesize A Manager'S Perspective. Xml: A Manager'S Guide, Addresses This Problem For Xml. It Delivers:An Introduction To Xml Technology And Tools At A Level That Will Allow Managers To Communicate With Developers Without Having To Become One. Information About The Processes And People Managers Will Need For Successful Xml Projects. Inspiration For How To Deliver Value Through Xml, Including An Analysis Of Market Adoption And The Types Of Applications Where It Offers The Most Benefit. Who Should Read This Book Obviously, This Book Targets Managers. More Specifically, It Targets Software Development Managers In (1) Information Systems (Is) Organizations Within Enterprises And (2) Product Development Groups Within Software Vendors. To A Great Extent, The Needs Of These Two Different Managerial Audiences Intersect. They Both Need A Basic Understanding Of The Technology As Well As Guidance In The Tools, Processes, And People Necessary For Success. They Do Differ In The Types Of Xml Ap
