Resources and references
Specifications
- XPath: XML Path Language (XPath) 3.1. W3C Recommendation 21 March 2017
- XQuery: XQuery 3.1: An XML Query Language. W3C Recommendation 21 March 2017
- XPath and XQuery functions and operators: XPath and XQuery Functions and Operators 3.1. W3C Recommendation 21 March 2017
- XSLT: XSL Transformations (XSLT) Version 3.0. W3C Recommendation 8 June 2017
- Schematron: ISO Schematron, 2016 edition
Books and links
Our own teaching materials are available at Obdurodon and Newtfire.
XPath
There are no XPath-specific reference books, but XPath is discussed in the books about XQuery and XSLT listed below. XPath functions through version 3.1 are documented on line in the Function library section of the documentation for Saxon. The Mulberry Technologies XPath 2.0 Quick Reference and XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Functions and Operators Quick Reference by Sam Wilmott are excellent, but they do not include more recent features.
XQuery
There are twogood general XQuery books:
- Priscilla Walmsley, XQuery, 2nd edition, 2015, O’Reilly. It contains documentation of both XPath functions used in XQuery and XQuery itself. XQuery and XPath share a function library, so the XPath references above also pertain to XQuery.
- Clifford B. Anderson and Joseph C. Wicentowski, XQuery for humanists, 2020, Texas A&M University Press. Less complete than Priscilla Walmsley’s book, but very accessible to XQuery beginners.
The Mulberry Technologies XQuery 1.0 Quick Reference and XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Functions and Operators Quick Reference by Sam Wilmott are excellent, but they do not include more recent features.
One of the best resources for exploring and building with XQuery is the eXist-db XML database. We have prepared instructions for installing eXist-db on your own computer, so that you can upload and work with your own files. If you use eXist-db as your XML database, we also recommend Erik Siegel and Adam Retter, eXist: a NoSQL document database and application platform, O’Reilly, 2014. If you use eXist-db, you should also subscribe to the exist-open mailing list.
XSLT
The best XSLT reference book is Michael Kay, XSLT 2.0 and XPath 2.0 Programmer’s Reference, 4th edition, Wrox, 2008, but it has not been updated for XPath 3.1 or XSLT 3.0. There are no XSLT 3.0 reference books, but XSLT 3.0 elements are documented on line in the XSLT elements section of the documentation for Saxon. The Mulberry Technologies XSLT 2.0 Quick Reference by Sam Wilmott is excellent, but it does not include more recent features. You should subscribe to the XSLT mailing list.
Schematron
There is one Schematron book, Erik Siegel’s Schematron: a language for validating XML. For a good Schematron tutorial on line see Mulberry Technologies’ Introduction to Schematron, by Wendell Piez and Debbie Lapeyre. See also the Mulberry Technologies ISO Schematron Quick Reference, by Sam Wilmott.