XML XQuery API Course Training Course

DAY 1 – XML, XQuery

• Presentation of course objectives
• Presentation of applications used
• Verification of the working environment
• Presentation of resources used during the course

Module 1: XML Fundamentals

• What is XML and its areas of use
• The structure of an XML document
• Elements, attributes, and text
• Rules for well-formed documents (a single root element, correctly closed tags, case sensitivity)
• The 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
• XPath Expressions
• XML vs JSON

Module 2: XQuery

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

Introduction to APIs

• General understanding of operating principles

DAY 2 – API, Postman and SoapUI

Module 3: API Fundamentals

• What is an API and why it is used (communication between applications/systems)
• The 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
• The structure of an API request: URL, headers, body, query parameters
• Data transmission formats: XML vs JSON – direct comparison (same data, the two formats, side-by-side)
• Authentication
  • Basic Authentication
  • API Key
  • Bearer Token
  • OAuth 2.0 (introduction)

Module 4: API Working 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 validation of the response • Collection Runner — automatic execution of a series of requests, useful for regression testing
• Using SoapUI

Module 5: API Working Tools – SoapUI

• The structure of a WSDL and how it is imported into SoapUI for automatic generation of request-
• The structure of a SOAP request: Envelope, Header, Body
• Assertions in SoapUI: XPath, Schema Compliance, SOAP Fault
• The practical difference compared to REST API: SoapUI is contract-oriented (WSDL/XSD), Postman is free-request oriented

Recap and Conclusion

• Recap of the main concepts
• Best practices for working with XML and APIs
• Resources for further learning
• Questions and answers
• Feedback and closing of the course