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Didier Martin

Didier has built robots, written video games and done some research, but when he found markup technologies a passion was born. Even though after 21 years in the computer business he may be called an adult, he still sees the world as a box full of toys to play with.

When he is not thinking, inventing, coding or writing, Didier bicycles during the summer and skis in winter. His motto: "A different point of view is worth a thousand points of IQ".

Articles by this author

How Would You Like That Served?

Our intrepid explorer of specifications, Didier Martin, investigates CC/PP, an RDF application for describing and exchanging device capabilities.

Staying in Synch

SyncML is a new standard aimed at keeping your data synchronized between devices both large and small. Didier Martin provides a whirlwind tour of this new technology.


What's So Great About XML?

Why bother using XML in a web publishing system? Didier Martin discusses the benefits of using XML as an intermediate stage in content delivery.

Getting into i-Mode

Following on with his investigations into XML and wireless devices, Didier Martin explains i-Mode, the technology fueling the Japanese explosion in wireless Web access, and contrasts it with WAP.

Hello, Voice World

Ever written a "Hello World" program that talks back? Didier Martin has, and now he shares his experiences in order to show us around VoiceXML, a markup language for voice interactions.

Opening the E-Book

Use XML and save the planet! Didier Martin opens up the e-book specification and finds out that it's easy to save paper by creating electronic books.

Adapting Content for VoiceXML

In the second part of his "Write Once, Publish Everywhere" project, Didier Martin takes us through creating content for voice browsers.

Write Once, Publish Everywhere

Didier Martin leads us through building a portal accessible by HTML, WML, and VoiceXML. This week's article introduces the project and covers the login process.

What's So Great About XML?

Why bother using XML in a web publishing system? Didier Martin discusses the benefits of using XML as an intermediate stage in content delivery.

A Mobile Window on our Portal

As promised, we return to our HTML/WML portal project to demonstrate creating the WML side of the portal using XSLT, XLink, and XInclude.

Creating an HTML/WML Portal

With the explosion in alternative browsing devices, portals need to present more than one representation of their content. Didier Martin demonstrates how to build your own XML-driven portal.

Architectures for Styling

How should you style your XML? Client-side or server-side? CSS or XSLT? Didier Martin presents an exploration of architectures for styling your XML.

What Place Has CSS in the XML World?

What practical use is CSS today to the XML developer? How does it integrate with XSLT? Didier Martin shows us where CSS fits in with the XML family of languages.

Component-Based Page Layouts

Combining XHTML, XSLT and XLink can be a powerful way to construct web page layouts. Adding a splash of SVG for good measure, Didier Martin challenges us to experiment.

A Class Act

In the first of our new "Style Matters" columns, Didier Martin shows how to preserve semantic information when using XSLT to generate HTML from XML.

A Question of Timing

The SMIL family of XML applications enables synchronized display of multimedia elements on the Web. Didier Martin explores SMIL, and the new synchronization features in Microsoft's IE5.5.

A Campfire Story

Sleeping under the stars, Didier Martin writes of today's HTTP and XML infrastructure, and the changes coming to wireless user interfaces.

More To WAP Than Meets The Eye

HDML is still a widespread language for marking up mobile phone content. Didier Martin introduces us to the differences between HDML and WML, and shows how HDML can be created from XML.

DSSSL for XML: Why not?

Although a forerunner to CSS and XSLT, DSSSL can still be used today with XML to create RTF, HTML, and other formats. Didier Martin show us how.

A Family Affair

XHTML, SVG, XSL, WML are all XML vocabularies for determining the final appearance of information on a display device. Didier Martin surveys this family of rendering languages, and considers their interaction with XSLT and the DOM.

Integration by Parts: XSLT, XLink and SVG

Didier Martin gives us a practical demonstration of the power of XSLT, XLink and SVG, bringing them together to generate interactive, illustrated, technical documentation.