This book is for developers with a desire to learn about this new and exciting technology and how it can be a benefit in their environment. While a previous knowledge of SQLServer 2000, T-SQL, and previous versions of SQLXMLwill come in handy, it is certainly not a perquisite to reading this book. Adecent understanding about XMLand related technologies (such as XQuery) will also be useful when reading this book, but it isn’t necessary.
MS is serious about XMLand it could not be more evident than with the release of SQLServer 2005, supporting a full-blown new xml data type. This new data type can be used as a column or in variables and stored procedures. It also supports technologies such as XQuery and XMLData Manipulation Language, which provides full query and data modification capabilities on the xml data type.