Book excerpt: DITA expert Eliot Kimber takes you inside the DITA XML standard, explaining the architecture and technology that make DITA unique. Volume 1 of his two-volume exploration of DITA starts with a hands-on explanation of end-to-end DITA processing that will get you up and running fast. Then, he explores the DITA architecture, explaining maps and topics, structural patterns, metadata, linking and addressing, keys and key references, relationship tables, conditional processing, reuse, and more. DITA for Practitioners Volume 1: Architecture and Technology is for engineers, tool builders, and content strategists: anyone who designs, implements, or supports DITA-based systems and needs a deeper understanding of DITA technology. Kimber's unique perspective unwraps the puzzle that is DITA, explaining the rationale for its design and structure, and giving you an unvarnished, detailed look inside this important technology.