CSIT600b: XML Programming
for MSc(IT) Fall 2004

• Exam Syntax Guide - Print your own copy but do not write anything on it. You have to hand it in with your exam script to proof that it is clean.
• Exam: Nov 20 (Sat) 3:15pm  Lecture Theatre D (duration 2 hrs). Exam Study Guide now with marks distribution
• Assignment due date updated: Nov 20-24:00
• Updated Demo  http://kwchiu.dyndns.org:7999/html2dom/html2dom.html with DOM tree dump for easy XSLT formulation! (source code)
• You are encouraged to submit your assignement early starting from Nov 15 (each day earlier than Nov 20 yields 2 bonus mark, 10 marks maximum) and in order to have time for prepare for your exam.
• Penalty for late assignment: 3 marks every day - latest Nov 23-24:00.
• Contact the TA or me ASAP if you have technical problems for the assignment. For those who cannot deploy your .WAR with the deploy tool, you can use the Web-based admin tool to do so - see the J2EE tutorial and is fairly easy.
• Exam date: Nov 20 (Sat) 3:15pm  Lecture Theatre D (during 2 hrs)
• Exam Format: close notes, close books, but open syntax guide to be provided later
• We shall proceed to XSLT in the next lecture so that you can work on your assignment during ChunYeung, i.e., no programming guide in the next lecture and left to the lecture after next
• As we cannot go through too many example during lecture, esp. for those who feel a bit puzzled, go through some of the online tutorials at: http://www.zvon.org
• WAP emulator: http://www.gelon.net/
• Before the first lecture, for your best preparation, please try to
1. get a work knowing of Java programming (see resources below)
2. arrange for broadband Internet connection for downloading the required Web resources and software

(you may need download managers such as Net Transport or Reget to download large files)
3. access to a PC or laptop with Windows 2000 or XP for your exercises and assignment (we cannot support Win 95/98/ME)

(for those found your computer slow, instead of just the CPU speed, consider your memory and hard disk too)
4. upgrade Internet Explorer to the latest version for XSLT processing (at least version 6)
5. download and install J2EE version 1.4 and the tutorial (see below) - do *not* use the beta version
6. access to the course newsgroup (see below)
7. preferably form a group of 2 for the assignment (especially for those not familiar with Java or with little programming experiences)

Objectives

• To provide a conceptual overview on contemporary XML technologies
• To provide hands-on and programming opportunities on selected features of this technologies
• To provide a basis for undertaking further courses or self-learning in related and/or more specific areas

Course Description
 

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) developed the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and a portfolio of related standards in response to the growing need for a platform independent language for describing and exchanging interoperable information. XML has been gradually replacing Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and is now ubiquitous over the Internet. In this one-credit topic course, we will cover the basis of XML including (i) basic syntax, (ii) Document Type Definitions (DTD) and XML Schemas for user document format definition, (iii) Document Object Model (DOM) and Simple API for XML (SAX) for XML parsing, (iv)XPath and Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) for XML document transformation, and (v) Web services-related protocols such as Web Services Description Language (WSDL), Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI). If time permits, we shall also introduce the emerging technology XQuery for XML database query. Emphases will be on practice applications. We shall use the Java programming language to illustrate typical techniques involved in XML programming environments (such as the Java Web Service Developer Pack) for developing application programs.