XQuery from the Experts: A Guide to the W3C XML Query Language

"The individual perspectives on the concepts behind the XQuery language offered by XQuery from the Experts will be of great value to those who are seeking to understand the implications, opportunities, and challenges of XQuery as they design future information systems based on XML."

—Michael Champion, Advisory Research and Development Specialist, Software AG

XQuery answers the growing need for a functional XML search and transformation standard. Backed by the full weight of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), XQuery is being extremely well received by the IT community worldwide. The first major XML language that takes advantage of the benefits of strong typing provided by XML Schema, XQuery has the versatility to manipulate both XML and non-XML data and provides a valuable connection between the world of XML and relational databases.

In XQuery from the Experts, select members of the W3C's XML Query working group come together to discuss every facet of XQuery. From Jonathan Robie's introductory "XQuery: A Guided Tour" to Mary Mary Fernández, Jérôme Siméon, and Philip Wadler's "Introduction to the Formal Semantics," XQuery is revealed in a way that both novice programmers and industry experts can appreciate.

Edited by long-time XML expert and programmer Howard Katz, coverage ranges from strictly technical chapters to comparative essays such as Michael Kay's "XQuery, XPath, and XSLT," which explores the common ancestry of all three languages, and Don Chamberlin's "Influences on the Design of XQuery," which details the process behind XQuery's design.

Key coverage includes:

• Denise Draper on "Mapping Between XML and Relational Data"
• Michael Rys exploring "Integrating XQuery and Relational Database Systems"
• Jim Tivy's analysis of "A Native XML DBMS"
• Mary Mary Fernández, Jérôme Siméon, and Philip Wadler, presenting "Static Typing in XQuery"
• Information presented in both a tutorial and a reference framework for use by XML professionals of any level

For IT managers, professionals, programmers, or anyone involved with XML, XQuery from the Experts is an invaluable resource.

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Eight chapters by members of W3C's Query Working Group provide an overview of XQuery designed to be of interest to programmers at every skill level. Coverage ranges from strictly technical subjects to historical essays on the language's ancestry and the process behind XQuery's design. The book presents its material in both tutorial and reference form. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Howard Katz is the owner of Fatdog Software, a company that specializes in software for searching XML documents, and is the author of XQEngine, a Java-based open-source XQuery implementation. He has more than 35 years of programming experience and is a long-time contributor of technical articles to the computer trade press, including columns on programming matters for both Microsoft and Apple.
Denise Draper is chief technology officer for Nimble Technology in Seattle and holds several patents for XML-based technology. She holds degrees from both CalTech and the University of Washington and is an editor of the Formal Semantics document.
Mary Fernández is a principal technical staff member in Large-Scale Programming Research at AT&T Labs—Research. She has been there since receiving a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Princeton in 1995. Mary is an editor of the Formal Semantics, XPath 2.0, and Data Model documents.
Michael Kay is the developer of Saxon, a highly-regarded XSLT processor, and is the author of the best-selling XSLT Programmer's Reference. He is an editor of the XSL Transformations, XQuery Serialization, and XPath 2.0 documents.
Jonathan Robie is the XML product architect at DataDirect Technologies, working on products that integrate XML and traditional data sources. He is a coauthor of Quilt, the immediate predecessor of XQuery, and is an editor of the main XQuery 1.0, XML Query Requirements, XQueryX, and XPath 2.0 documents.
Michael Rys sits on the Query Working Group on behalf of Microsoft, where he is the Product Manager for SQL Server XML Technologies. He is an editor of the Formal Semantics, XML Query Requirements, and XPath Full-TextRequirements documents.
Jérôme Siméon is a member of the technical staff at Bell Labs. He is one of the implementers of Galax, one of the first XQuery implementations. He is an editor of the XQuery 1.0, XPath 2.0, and Formal Semantics documents.
Jim Tivy has spent over ten years working on database technology. He represents XML Global Technologies on the Working Group. His own company, BlueStream Database Software Corporation, develops and markets XStreamDB, a native XML database product.
Philip Wadler is a researcher at Avaya Labs in New Jersey. He edits the Journal of Functional Programming for Cambridge University Press and is an editor of the Formal Semantics document.
Don Chamberlin, coauthor of the well-known SQL database language standard, is IBM's representative on the XML Query Working Group and is an editor of both the W3C's XML Query Use Cases and Data Model documents. In 2003, he was named an IBM Fellow, the company's highest technical honor. Don also coauthored Quilt, the immediate predecessor of XQuery.