Hi
a) I plan to start learning WCF, but I’m not sure whether it’s important to learn XML first. If XML should be learned before WCF, why?
b) In case XML should be learned prior to WCF, then I’d prefer to learn just the parts required to understand WCF. So which of the following XML technologies should be tackled and in how much detail:
thanx
I would suggest learning the bits of XML that you need to know while you learn WCF. For example, a colleague of mine didn't know anything about XML until he needed to know how to use XQuery for a SQL query that returned XML. That project taught him what he needed to know, so he was able to spend more time learning about XQuery with SQL Server instead of the ins and outs of DTD and XSLT.
This tutorial should give you enough basics so you can start using WCF: http://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml%5Fsyntax.asp
It might be a good idea to go through a quick primer online to get familiar with XML but I wouldn't spend too long doing it. You will have plenty of opportunities to learn the ins and outs of XML as you develop your WCF applications.
Here's a list of pretty decent XML tutorials.
http://www.xmlfiles.com/xml/
Knowing XML will help you understand what is happening, and it would definatly be helpfull to know it. But it is not required.
If you use the configuration tools, you allmost never need to see the XML.
You can for example use MS Word without understanding the format in which the file is saved.
Fundamental Fact: Learning XML in a stand-alone manner does not make sense because XML is not used in a stand-alone manner.
Since, you are about to learn WCF, I would suggest you to get a hang of WebServices first. That way you will learn the basics you want to learn about XML and also its relevance as a choice for serialized data transfer.
Also, it would make sense to learn about the various advantages and options provided in SQL Server for XML support.
So, learn XML in conjunction with a relevant technology that would prove more useful to you.