The XML Companion (3rd Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Concise and Thorough
Review: This is the book to read if you want to understand what XML is and why you should be interested in it.

Having looked at most XML books currently on the market, I like this one best because (1) it is short (2) it is authoritative (3) it is reasonably current (4) it talks about XML *and* all the related standards/proposals (XSL, XSLT, XPointer, XLink, etc) (5) it gives you the big picture and the details, but it never gets lost in the details.

*After* you read this book, you go ahead and buy a programming book for whatever platform you happen to be working on.

It is a common misunderstanding that introductory computer books have to be 1000+ pages long, must contain 50% code, and have to be written to the lowest common denominator. This book does not fall in this category; it is written for grown ups.

To summarize, this is the kind of book that usually gets published under the O'Reilly label.