Developing Feeds with O’Reilly

Syndication, RSS, feeds and atom; we have all heard the jargon words thrown around time and time again. Here recently it seems like RSS is picking up steam so I figured it was about time I started to really learn how it works.

That is where Developing Feeds with RSS and Atom by O’Reilly comes in to the picture. Sure I’ve used RSS feeds on my own Web sites. I have a good feed reader running all the time. What else is there for me to learn? Well, even if you know how to use it and what it is, that does not mean you know all about the inside guts that keeps it going.

The thing I like most about this book is it really holds your hand as you go through the different parts of an RSS feed. It lets you know what each part is, why it is important and what you should do with it. The book does not stop there though. It also gives many tricks and tips on how you can use RSS and Atom to create your own personal RSS feeds with just about anything.

Perhaps the most explosive technological trend over the past two years has been blogging. As a matter of fact, it’s been reported that the number of blogs during that time has grown from 100,000 to 4.8 million-with no end to this growth in sight.

What’s the technology that makes blogging tick? The answer is RSS–a format that allows bloggers to offer XML-based feeds of their content. It’s also the same technology that’s incorporated into the websites of media outlets so they can offer material (headlines, links, articles, etc.) syndicated by other sites.

As the main technology behind this rapidly growing field of content syndication, RSS is constantly evolving to keep pace with worldwide demand. That’s where Developing Feeds with RSS and Atom steps in. It provides bloggers, web developers, and programmers with a thorough explanation of syndication in general and the most popular technologies used to develop feeds.

Want to make a feed out of a Google search item? Done. Want to make a feed out of your Amazon.com wish list? Done. There are just so many nuggets of knowledge in this book, it is hard to point out the best part. There are so many angles to the world of syndication and Developing Feeds with RSS and Atom has just about every inch covered.

If you are a RSS newbie wanting to learn what all this syndication talk is about or even if you are an expert who is looking to get more information, this book is the book for you. You can find sample chapters and purchasing information over at O’Reilly’s Web site.