XML and XQuery API Course Training Course

DAY 1 – XML, XQuery 

• Course objectives presentation
• Presentation of tools to be used
• Work environment verification
• Overview of course resources

Module 1: XML Fundamentals

• What is XML and its application domains
• Structure of an XML document
• Elements, attributes, and text
• Rules for well-formed documents (a single root element, correctly closed tags, case sensitivity)
• Difference between well-formed and valid documents (schema/DTD, briefly)
• Introduction to DTD and XML Schema
• XML Namespaces
• XPath
  • navigating through the document
  • selecting elements
  • predicates
  • basic functions

Practical Activities:: 

• Reading a real XML file 
• XPath expressions 
• XML vs JSON 

Module 2: XQuery

• What is XQuery and its relationship with XPath (XQuery "includes" XPath) 
• XQuery structure: prolog + expression 
• FLWOR expressions: `for`, `let`, `where`, `order by`, `return` 
• Constructing new XML nodes directly within queries (data transformation) 
• Common built-in functions: `count()`, `sum()`, `substring()`, `contains()`, date functions 
• User-defined functions (`declare function`) – introductory only, without advanced recursion
  advanced
• Queries across multiple documents (`doc()`, `collection()`) – introductory level

Introduction to APIs

• General understanding of operational principles

DAY 2 – APIs, Postman, and SoapUI

Module 3: API Fundamentals

• What is an API and why it is used (communication between applications/systems) 
• Client-server concept 
• REST API: basic principles (resources, URLs, statelessness) 
• HTTP methods: `GET`, `POST`, `PUT`, `DELETE` – what each represents 
• Common HTTP response codes: 200, 201, 400, 401, 404, 500 
• Structure of an API request: URL, headers, body, query parameters 
• Data formats transmitted: XML vs JSON – direct comparison (same data, two 
  formats, side-by-side) 
• Authentication
  • Basic Authentication
  • API Key
  • Bearer Token
  • OAuth 2.0 (introduction)

Module 4: API Tools – Postman

• Building a request: method (GET/POST/PUT/DELETE), headers, body, params
• Collections and Environments (useful for separating DEV/UAT/PROD in a bank) 
• Environment variables — essential when authentication tokens or URLs differ 
  between environments  
  • Authentication: Bearer Token, OAuth 2.0, API Key 
  • Tests tab — simple JavaScript scripts for automatic response validation  
  • Collection Runner — automatic execution of a series of requests, useful for rapid regression 
  testing
• Using SoapUI

Module 5: API Tools – SoapUI

• WSDL structure and how to import it into SoapUI for automatic request generation
  -requests 
• SOAP request structure: Envelope, Header, Body 
• Assertions in SoapUI: XPath, Schema Compliance, SOAP Fault 
• Practical difference from REST API: SoapUI is contract-oriented (WSDL/XSD), Postman 
  is request-libre oriented 

Review and Conclusion

• Summary of key concepts
• Best practices for working with XML and APIs
• Resources for further study
• Questions and answers
• Feedback and course closure