The name of the author of XML: The Annotated Specification may sound familiar. Some of you may have heard of him because of his contributions in the XML industry. For others it's probably because you've just seen his name on the cover of this magazine - Bob is writing the Standar Watch column. This book is an excellent sample of Bob's writing style and his ability to simplify the concepts introduced by a complex technology. I've never gone through the complete XML specification; however, like other language specifications, it's not for the average reader. I think Charles Goldfarb puts it succinctly in his foreword to the book when he describes the spec's terseness: 'For earth people - even for most programmers - it's a daunting read indeed!'