Java and XML Application Development: Hands-On

Frequently Asked Questions

How does XML relate to Java? XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a revolutionary technology that enables non-compatible systems to exchange data in a standard way. With the Java programming language, developers can build a single application that runs across multiple platforms. Java and XML together allows for true enterprise application integration across multiple businesses, platforms, operating systems and databases. Application areas for XML and Java include: Using XML as a messaging format for B2B (business-to-business) Java applications Publishing and exchanging database contents through XML and Java Transforming XML into other formats for B2C (business-to-consumer) presentation What is this course about? In this course, experienced Java programmers learn to write platform- and data-independent programs for the B2B and B2C worlds. Specifically, you gain extensive hands-on experience using Java to process XML documents. You learn to create well-formed XML documents both from scratch and database data. You also learn to validate these XML documents with DTDs, parse them using Java with SAX and DOM, and create Java objects from XML documents. Who will benefit from this course? This course is useful for programmers, software engineers, analysts and managers involved in developing applications with Java and XML. What background do I need? It is assumed that you have 3+ months of experience writing Java programs. You should: Understand Java classes and the inheritance model Be able to use the standard Java APIs Be able to create a full Java application Have a good understanding of OOP. You can learn enough Java to be ready for this course by completing Course 471, Java Programming: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction. You should also have some appreciation of enterprise applications in the Web environment. Does this course cover XSL and XSLT? Yes. XSL (Extensible Stylesheet Language) is the language that controls the presentation of XML documents in B2C applications. XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language for Transformations) is the language that controls the transformation of XML to other forms of XML for B2B applications. How does this course cover DOM? DOM (Document Object Model) allows Java programs to dynamically access and update the content, structure and style of documents. DOM is covered in great depth, including hands-on exercises to reinforce the material. How does this course cover SAX? SAX (Simple API for XML) allows Java programs to sequentially access the data of an XML document through event handlers. SAX is covered in great depth, including hands-on exercises to reinforce the material. How much time is devoted to each topic? Content Hours Overview of XML technologies 2.5 Exchanging and validating data 3.0 Parsing XML with Java and SAX 4.5 Parsing DOM with Java 3.5 Updating XML with DOM 3.0 Transforming XML 3.0 DOM4J and other XML technologies 4.0 Times, including the workshops, are estimates; exact times may vary according to the needs of each class. What kinds of hands-on exercises are in the course? Approximately 40 percent of class time is spent on hands-on exercises that build on each other. In class, participants create a complete working B2B/B2C Java and XML system that includes writing and validating XML documents both manually and through Java , DOM and DOM4J (JavaDOM). Exercises include XML document creation, DTD validation, XSL styling, XSLT transformations, parsing with DOM, parsing with SAX, Java-optimized parsing with DOM4J, and parsing abstractions with JAXP (Java API for XML Parsing). What systems and software are used in this course? The normal classroom setup uses PCs running Windows XP with the latest version of Java, XML tools, XML parsers and browsers (Microsoft, Opera, Netscape). Is this course specific to one vendor? No. The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) and Sun Microsystems promote open standards. This course follows this philosophy. Everything you learn about XML and Java applies equally to UNIX, Macintosh, Windows, OS/2 and other operating systems. How does this course relate to Course 542? This course is designed for experienced Java programmers who want to develop Java applications using XML in the B2B and B2C enterprise world. Course 542, XML: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction, is an introductory XML course and recommends some programming experience. Developers programming in Java should not take Course 542. How does this course relate to Course 570? The focus of Course 570, Developing Java Web Applications: Hands-On, is on server-side Java Web applications and makes use of some XML. This course complements 570 and can be taken before or after it. How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses? This course is part of Learning Tree's Java curriculum. Unless you have 3 to 6 months of Java programming experience, you should take Course 471, Java Programming: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction, before taking this course. The other Java courses in the curriculum can be taken before or after this course, depending on your needs, include: 517, Developing Enterprise Java Applications with Spring and Hibernate®: Hands-On  570, Developing Java Web Applications: Hands-On  577, Building XML Web Services with Java: Hands-On  318, Building Java Enterprise Applications with Design Patterns: Hands-On

XML is a trademark of MIT, INRIA or Keio on behalf of the World Wide Web Consortium. Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.