RE: [xsl] XSLT Architecture: Next Step

Subject: RE: [xsl] XSLT Architecture: Next Step
From: "Martinez, Brian" <brian.martinez@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 08:29:47 -0600
> From: Claudio Russo [mailto:crusso@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2003 6:11 AM
> Subject: [xsl] XSLT Architecture: Next Step
> 
> 
> I've been looking at Didier's article, 
> http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2000/04/19/style/index.html, and I 
> found it very usefull. Now I have some opinions that brought 
> to my attention.
> 
> From what I read on it and previously in other articles about 
> the subject, my first impression was that XSLT pourpose was 
> to perform the presentation of data in a browser or cel phone 
> or whatever (which is also well explained on Didier's 
> article). While doing this, one could preserve the logic of 
> extracting and calculation to the server, in which ever is 
> the language that somebody likes to work, from let's say, an 
> RDB/IMS/VSAM to a XML structure. This way the resulting data 
> was transfered to the client machine, where an XSLT schema 
> presented in the way the view device need it (HTML/WAP/Voice).

XSLT does a good job of preserving the model-view-controller paradigm.  You
can use it to properly separate content from layout--your stylesheets can
describe the structure of your output document, then "fill in the blanks"
using content from the XML source.  Virtually our entire Web site follows
this design pattern (although there are others, notably navigational and
rules-based stylesheets).  We also use XSLT to generate other XSLT
stylesheets.

You can also use XSLT as a functional programming language, as amply
demonstrated by Dimitre Novatchev's FXSL library
(http://fxsl.sourceforge.net/).

> Now, from the msgs I see on the list I see that people 
> pretend to use XSLT for whatever they figure out (maybe also 
> for cooking).

It's often fun to make a language perform tricks it wasn't originally
intended for, but no one here will suggest that XSLT be used to run your
blender or the baggage-handling system at the local airport (although it
couldnt't do a worse job than the system we have in Denver!).

The Golden Hammer syndrome has been discussed here before
(http://www.biglist.com/lists/xsl-list/archives/200212/threads.html#00553).
You can't use XSLT for everything.  And it may not even be the best solution
for *most* things.  But for its stated purpose--transforming source trees
into result trees--it's exceptionally powerful.  We serve millions of pages
from our Web sites every day as proof.

cheers,
b.

| brian martinez                           brian.martinez@xxxxxxxxxxx |
| lead gui programmer                                    303.357.3548 |
| cheap tickets, part of trip network                fax 303.357.3380 |
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