“An excellent, early look at the emerging XML Query standard. The chapters on surprises and gotchas alone are worth the price of admission!”

         —Ashok Malhotra, Architect, Microsoft

“XQuery is the most important XML standard to emerge in recent years, and is a language with which anyone using XML on a regular basis should become acquainted. Michael Brundage's accessible introduction to XQuery provides enough information on all aspects of the standard, including its dark corners, to allow any XML developer to jump right in and start coding.”

         —Damien Fisher, Kernel Team Member, Soda Technologies Pty Ltd

“This book does an excellent job of distilling the essentials of XQuery in an understandable, straightforward and easily digestable manner. This book has already become an indispensible part of my library and is a welcome addition to my XML repertoire.”

         —Dare Obasanjo, Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation

“Simply put, the emerging XQuery standard adds enormous value to XML data and this book is your key to unlocking that value. Here in one stop you will find an accessible introduction to XQuery and a complete reference. Practitioners will particularly value the sections on XQuery idioms and surprises where Michael shares his tricks of the trade.”

         —Dave Van Buren, Project Manager, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

“It’s both a stupendous reference on XQuery and a good read. Michael writes with verve, authority, and an eminently readable style. What a rare delight to discover all this, and in a technical book too! When the sequel comes along, sign me up.”

         —Howard Katz, Owner, Fatdog Software Inc., Editor, XQuery from the Experts (Addison-Wesley, 2003)

From corporate IT departments to academic institutions, XML has become the language of choice for storing and transmitting data across diverse application domains. XQuery, an XML Query Language invented by the World Wide Web Consortium, offers a powerful, standardized way to query all of that XML-encapsulated information. With its ability to integrate XML and non-XML data, XQuery seems poised to do for XML what SQL has done for relational data.

Written by the Technical Lead for XML query processing at Microsoft, XQuery: The XML Query Language is an invaluable resource for XQuery novices and experts alike. For those new to XQuery, this example-rich text serves as a tutorial that brings readers quickly up to speed on XQuery's data model, type system, and core language features. More experienced XML and database developers will find an excellent reference on the nuances of various expressions, as well as a guide to using XQuery to accomplish specific tasks.

Drawing on his experiences using XQuery, Michael Brundage offers an objective, inside look at this emerging technology. His unique perspective translates into an accessible and authoritative guide for readers using XML for documents, Web services, or databases.

Key coverage includes:

• Data model and type system
• Path navigation
• Iteration, construction, arithmetic, text processing, type operators and user-defined functions
• Information beyond the standard—such as a look at update languages, performance benchmarks, query optimization, XQuery style, and much, much more
• Hundreds of examples
• The future of XQuery

The appendixes provide in-depth information on XQuery's type system, core expressions, built-in functions, regular expressions, and grammar. Meanwhile, the companion Web site offers downloadable source code for all of the examples in the book, the latest on the XQuery standard, answers to readers' questions, XQuery tips and strategies, and more.

XQuery will show developers, programmers, and database administrators how a single line of this deep and powerful new language can accomplish the equivalent of hundreds of lines written in C, C#, Java, and other general-purpose programming languages.