🚀 go-pugleaf

I would like to second the recommendation of the Technical Report
(ISO/IEC 9573, be sure not to forget the number! :-).  The next
version of it will cover a wider area and be much improved.  I have no
firm date for its release, but it can't be far away.  If you're reading
this, Anders, thanks for the first TR, and keep up the good work!

On the other hand, I'm not happy to voice my negative concerns about
Eric van Herwijnen's book.  Mostly, this is because I think we all
need a good introductory book to SGML, and that this book is not it.

I read it not long ago, despite my general rule not to pick up books
with "practical" anywhere on the title page.  My feelings with it were
expressed very well by Deborah A. Lapeyre in her review, published in
<TAG> issue 16 (October 1990).  (Subscriptions and back-issues handled
by Patty Hill at the Graphic Communication Assocation (703 519 8160).)

Deborah Lepeyre's review is concise and addresses all the points that
I found valuable and important, even some that I didn't think were
important until she put them in context.  Her review is well balanced,
highlighting strengths and discussing "nits and picks".  In her view,
the book is technically accurate, but I don't quite agree with that:
it tends to understate many important aspects of the language that
readers will want to know about.  To quote from the summary:

	This is not the general SGML introduction that explains
	everything that all SGML users are still looking for.  This
	book is a very personal volume, sort of "Travels Through the
	Land of SGML Software and What I Found There". ...  This book
	packs a lot of SGML application experience into one volume.
	    Along the way ... [it] provides a good programmer-oriented
	introduction to SGML.

I recommend reading the review before you spend time on the book.

--
[Erik Naggum]					     <enag@ifi.uio.no>
Naggum Software, Oslo, Norway			   <erik@naggum.uu.no>