Purpose of This Book

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is an important technology for exchanging structured information over intranets , extranets, and the Internet. As with many new software technologies, information flows into the developer community first. This flow starts electronically with e-mail lists, newsgroups, and technical Web sites. Then technology references, developer guides, and tutorials appear on bookstore shelves .

After developers use a technology to create some inspiring prototypes , the computing press usually latches on to the trend. Articles hail it as the solution to a wide variety of application development problems. Executives take notice of the press coverage. They may even hear about internal "skunkworks" projects. Quickly, they want assessments of how the technology will impact their organizations.

Managers get caught in the middle. They are at an information disadvantage when it comes to assessing the benefits of the technology and managing its use. Developers are pushing from the bottom to use the technology on projects, whereas executives are pushing from the top for formal technology planning. Unfortunately, information resources targeted specifically at managers are extremely limited. They must resort to a time-consuming process of scanning volumes of developer-oriented details and dissecting executive summaries to synthesize a manager's perspective. The need for this synthesis continues as a technology evolves because every new advance follows the information path from developers to executives to managers.

XML: A Manager's Guide addresses this problem for XML. It includes the following features.

• An introduction to XML technology and software at a level that will allow managers to communicate with developers without having to become one.

• Information about the processes and people managers will need for successful XML projects.

• Inspiration for how to deliver value through XML, including an analysis of market adoption and the types of applications where it offers the most benefit.

There are two views of XML: as human readable content and as machine readable data. One of XML's advantages is that it enables developers to move information easily between perspectives. In traditional enterprise applications, however, XML as machine readable data usually influences more of the development effort. The book is somewhat biased toward the view of XML as data because this type of application is the author's primary area of expertise, but it covers both perspectives.