The Old Joel on Software Forum: Part 4 (of 5)

Learning RDF

Hi all

I've got to learn RDF. There's a bunch of stuff on the web, but I'l like a book.

O'Reilly has one called "Practical RDF" -- has here anyone read it?

Can anyone suggest a good RDF book?

Thanks.

C Rose
Monday, May 10, 2004

XML Bible by Elliote Rusty Harold isn't bad, though its a touch out of date.

The reviews on Practical RDF talk about it skimping on the technical background in lieu of its practical (and dating) examples. That might be a bit churlish as its title is 'Practical RDF' and not the Theory of Trees if all the leaves were triples RDF.

I worked my way through RDF originally using Mozilla examples. There's a good Introductory section in 'Essential XUL Programming' published by Wiley and it covers data sources and all sorts of wonderful things. But if developing XUL apps isn't something you're contemplating it might not be worth the cost. Though personally I think developing XUL apps a worthy goal in itself.

Simon Lucy
Monday, May 10, 2004

[Re-reading my post, the lack of coffee this morning is quite evident.]

C Rose
Monday, May 10, 2004

I'd like to second both comments on the XML Bible by ERH.

1) It's great.
2) It's becoming dated.

Back in 2001 when I picked it up, it was one of the few sources out there and still enjoys a prominant space on my shelf.

Unfortunately, XMLQuery, updated Xlink and a few other schemas/concepts didn't exist at the time.

KC
Monday, May 10, 2004

Be careful - RDF and XML have little to do with one another.

matt
Monday, May 10, 2004

The O'Reilly book is the best on the subject. Learn the RDF model through APIs. DO NOT start with the XML serialization of RDF. It's nasty, just like other attemts to shoehorn n dimensional data into an n-1 dimensional structure.

fool for python
Monday, May 10, 2004

...a poor attempt at spelling attempts.

fool for python
Monday, May 10, 2004

OK, thanks all. I've ordered the O'Reilly book.

C Rose
Tuesday, May 11, 2004