COIN 78 - XML Course Outline

Welcome to COIN 78, Introduction to XML. This page represents the outline and schedule for Introduction to XML, taught hybrid and online in Fall Quarter 2008. Each week is linked to the tutorial files, as well as PowerPoint presentations that you can download and print. Each lecture is a PowerPoint presentation, following the Visual QuickStart Guide to XML very closely. To download PowerPoint files, right click on the link in Internet Explorer. You will need the PowerPoint pplication to print these files. Given the many approaches to learning XML, you can really start anywhere after you have learned the basics. The assignments for the physical and online sections are identical.

Week 1: Overview of XML, XHTML, Course objectives, assignments, and final project

Overview of XML
Introduction to XHTML
History of markup languages

Week 2: Writing basic XML documents

Elements and attributes
Nested data models
Empty data models

Week 3: Developing your your XML model

Developing data models and structure
Combining attributes and nested elements
Good XML habits, and avoiding bad habits

Week 4: DTDs

DTDs for empty and nested models
Entities
Assertion networks

Week 5 : CSS

XML and CSS
Using the HTML namespace
Rendering images and links

Week 6: XSD - Schema

Introduction to XML schema
Writing schema for nested models
Writing schema for empty models

Week 7: XSD - Namespaces

Introduction to XML namespaces
Declaring and using XML namespaces
Examples of XML namespaces

Week 8: XSL and XSLT

Introduction to XSL
Introduction to XSLT
Rendering XML with XSL

Week 9: XPath - Patterns and Expressions

Introduction to XPath
Using XPath with XSL
XML Inclusion (XInclude)

Week 10: Google XML sitemaps

What are XML sitemaps?
Writing a simple sitemap
Installing your XML sitemap

Week 11: RSS and Meta data

RSS
RDF
XHTML metadata
Semantic Web

Week 12: XML Family of Specifications

Family of specifications
Advanced XML applications
Web services
KML

Please note that academic quarter is twelve sessions. I have written this course with one week of 'play' in the schedule, such that the chapters at the end of the course can be combined together as needed for time.