Introduction to XML

Introduction to XML

Full Description

With the popularity of the World Wide Web, XML has emerged as the industry standard. At first glance XML can be intimidating, but it is really easy once you understand the basic concepts. This course will introduce XML, explain how it is different from HTML, explain how XML has evolved, and explain the basic concepts of XML (DTD’s, Schemas and Namespaces). The students will complete a project that ties together all the concepts covered in this course. The text that will be used is “XML for the World Wide Web:Visual Quickstart Guide” and can be purchased at purchased at www.amazon.com for $13.99 new and $11.08 used.

Outcomes:

Lessons and assignments help students become comfortable with the basics of XML. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 1.Have a good understanding of XML, why it has evolved and how it is different than HTML 2.Create valid XML Document 3.Create a DTD 4.Understand and use Namespaces, Schemas and Validation 5.Create a Project using all of the topics covered in the course

Assessment:

There will be a project due at the end of the course that will give the students an opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned in the course. The project will be broken down into 6 assignments. One assignment will be given each week that covers the topics for that week. Each assignment will build on the previous one.

Week 1 In the first week, we will cover an overview of XML, why it evolved into an industry standard, how it is different from HTML and the cover the basics (Elements. Attributes and Values) of writing XML. Week 2 In the second week, we will cover one of the major building blocks of XML, the Document Type Definition (DTD). We will cover how to declare and write both internal and external DTD’s. Week 3 In the third week, we will cover DTD’s in more depth. We will cover how to define Elements, Choices, Attributes, Entities and Notations in a DTD. Week 4 In the fourth week, we will cover the Schemas. The student will learn how to of create an XML Schema, define simple types and define complex types. Week 5 In the fifth week, we will cover schemas in more depth and will introduce Namespaces. Week 6 In the last week, we will cover more about namespaces, and cover Schemas and Validation.