What You ll Need

What You'll Need

This book assumes you have some familiarity with a markup language, such as HTML. You don't have to be an HTML guru by any means, but it definitely helps if you understand the difference between a tag and an attribute. Even if you don't, you should be able to tackle XML without too much trouble. It will also help if you have experience using a web browser. Even though there are aspects of XML that reach beyond the web, this book focuses a great deal on using web browsers to view and test XML code. For this reason, I encourage you to download and install the latest release of a major web browser such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, or Safari.

In addition to web browsers, there are a few other tools mentioned throughout the book that you may consider downloading or purchasing based upon your individual needs. At the very least, you'll need a good text editor to edit XML documents. Windows Notepad is sufficient if you're working in a Windows environment, and I'm sure you can find a suitable equivalent for other environments. If you want to check into a more full-featured XML editor, it certainly won't hurt you. I mention several editors to consider in Hour 2 of the book, "Creating XML Documents." That's really all you need; a web browser and a trusty editor will carry you a long way toward becoming proficient in XML.