XML XQuery API Course Training Course

DAY 1 – XML, XQuery

• Presentation of course objectives
• Presentation of the 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
• 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
  • Navigation 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)
• Structure of an XQuery query: prolog + expression
• FLWOR Expressions: `for`, `let`, `where`, `order by`, `return`
• Construction of new XML nodes directly within 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 across 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)
• 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
• Transmitted data formats: XML vs JSON – direct comparison (same data, both formats, side-by-side)
• Authentication
  • Basic Authentication
  • API Key
  • Bearer Token
  • OAuth 2.0 (introduction)

Module 4: Working with APIs – Postman

• Building a request: method (GET/POST/PUT/DELETE), headers, body, params
• Collections and Environments (useful for separating DEV/UAT/PROD in a banking context)
• 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: Working with APIs – SoapUI

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

Review and Conclusion

• Review of key concepts
• Best practices for working with XML and APIs
• Resources for further deepening of knowledge
• Questions and answers
• Feedback and course closure