Shelley PowersPractical RDF

This book is Practical RDF and not "Progamming with RDF (with examples)". Yes, you can find all of the information in this book by searching the Internet. The point is that your results will vary based on who you, how much time you have at your disposal, which day it is, and whether your phone is about to ring.What Powers and the editors have done in Practical RDF is put the most relevant information (available at the time) in one place, with the typical advantages and disadvantages of a book, such as, you don't need an internet connection, it's operating system neutral, you can make notes in it, it's easy to put down and return to, etc..I spent the last month researching RDF online. After all that work, I frankly didn't learn much from the book. However, I could have saved myself a lot of time had the book arrived at my door earlier.We in the information business know how hard it is for our colleagues to embrace semi-new technology. Having a (or several) copy of this bookoin your bookshelf can save you loads of breath. Most people don't take well to "go do your own research." This book contains the research on RDF and is therefore indispensable for all except those who are fortunate enough to work independently.As noted in other reviews, there are areas for improvement. The technology has advanced since 2003. The original text was probably rushed. This book is due for a second revision, perhaps with more focus on OWL and inference (e.g., take the cwm out for a spin).For those seeking programming grit, the problem is very similar to programming with XML: which platform, language, and tools do you choose? With XML and RDF, many cross-platform tools exist (Jena, Sesame, Redland). As with most programming books, online documentation from open source tools are likely to be far more useful.When you want to learn about a largish subject, buy a book. When you want to program, there's no substitute for writing code.In sum, if there was a book that better educates the uninitiated to RDF, I would mention it here. But I haven't found one, and of course I'm hopeful that someone will write it. Until then, Practical RDF is the best of the pack.

This is a fairly readable introduction to RDF - however, you will need an RDF Reference open while reading. My only complaint is not with the book but the nomenclature adopted by RDF. Some terms used in RDF are excellent, descriptive and contribute to understanding (e.g., subject-predicate-object). Other terms make simple concepts confusing (e.g. "Striped" syntax). RDF is not a new technology - it is an extremely interesting and useful technology that is handicapped by an needlessly ambiguous and unclear nomenclature.Bottom line - use [...] while reading or buy a supplemental reference.

This is a very good book on a subject that is notoriously difficult to present. It *is* a practical book, with syntax examples from the start, but by necessity there is also quite a lot of theory in the early chapters. After covering the concepts involved in RDF and RDF Schema Shelley moves on to creating vocabularies and gives good (practical) overviews of the toolkits/APIs available to the developer. The latter sections explore existing (and potential) applications. As Shelley makes clear in the introduction, there are many different ways of viewing RDF. The way she goes about it is from the point of view of someone who works with Web technologies on a daily basis, sleeves rolled up.The writing style is fairly informal, which may not be to everyone's tastes. But I liked it, found it friendly, and think it's very helpful in this context. Rather than fudging issues Shelley is honest for example when applications don't behave as they're meant to. The occasional editorial errors are irritating, but don't really get in the way of the content.Shelley's commitment to the subject matter and the book are not in doubt. She was brave enough to put her early drafts online for public review, and since publication has been providing maintenance material on her Practical RDF weblog. Her own practical work takes advantage of the techniques discussed in the book, check out the Burningbird blog.The Resource Description Framework is at the heart of rapidly growing aspects of Web development, and Shelley's book provides a practical introduction. With the code, explanations and pointers to related material provided it's certainly enough for any developer to start taking advantage of RDF technologies. Whether you're looking for a good modeling approach for your application, or arrived at RDF from RSS syndication, or are interested in the Semantic Web vision, you'll get lots from this book.

A good book for RDF.

In June 2012, I re-read this book, copyrighted in 2003. When I first read Practical RDF in mid-2000's, I noticed inconsistencies among text, examples, and graphics that threw me for a loop. I've read the earlier reviews and these inconsistencies have thrown a number of other readers.I would, however, heartily recommend part of chapter 2 RDF: Heart and Soul, pages 14-21 (before author engages in URI). I less heartily recommend chapters 5 and 6, pages 83 - 131 on RDF vocabularies. The last 60%, Chapters 7 - 15, pages, 132 - 318, refer to old tools and the like. The book could be re-written & updated in a longish article.On a lighter side, I can confirm the author's last statement:Google still returns the author's article in response to the search terms"giant squid legends Nessie".