If you're going to take the SQL Server class 2779B, there is a lot of XML in it. That is, in relation to SQL Server 2005. But do you know your XML? Well, the training implies you do, though it is not one of the published prerequisites. If you're blank on XML, or want to check on your skills, you may want to take a look at www.w3schools.com.
The available tutorials give you an overview of the general usage of XML-technologies, some of them (XML, XPath, XQuery, XSD) will return in 2779 (Modules 3 and 6) where they are applied on SQL Server 2005. A little study-guide to prepare you for the things to come.
- XML general, much of it is aimed at interaction with a browser (as is the rest of the XML-related topics). These have been omitted here, but can increase your understanding of XML. From an SQL Server perspective, the topics below focus on the data-side of XML.
- XPath.
- XQuery, omit the optional topics if you just want to understand what XQuery is about, include them if you seek to work with and understand the samples.
- XSD, basically you only need the conceptual understanding of what a schema does and how it looks like. The other XSD-topics may be useful as well if you want to experiment with it. Also note that w3schools differentiates between the document enforcement mechanisms DTD (Document Type Definition) and XSD (XML Schema Definition). For SQL Server, you can ignore DTD's.