At 06:03 PM 10/8/2007, Kamal wrote:
I face a huge resistance based on the "fame" of XSLT of being:
1. Too slow ... 2. Too difficult ... 3. Too unknown ("everybody
knows JSP...") 4. Too old ...
I would like to know who comes up with this garbage. I am befuddled
whenever I hear these objections....
I agree with Mike. These are rational arguments deployed for
irrational reasons. That is, the "reason" is hardly ever the real
reason. Especially when the reasons offered contradict one another,
you can be sure they're just a smoke screen.
Before it was too old, XSLT was too new. In some places it's still
too new. It's too difficult -- except in some places they don't like
it since "non-programmers" pick it up so readily and get so good with
it so quickly. This drives the "programmers" nuts.
Then too, sometimes the real reasons, even if unexpressed, are
actually good reasons. I've seen organizations have trouble because
some people were too far out front and a cultural split developed.
This is a legitimate concern, I think.
People are people, and organizations of people are even more human
than the individuals in them. The most effective technologists I've
known have been really curious people who haven't been worried about
protecting turf or reputation. Instead, they see a new technology and
they want to try it. The broad experience they accumulate as a result
-- along with the imagination that makes it possible -- makes them
tremendously valuable, and healthy organizations learn to rely on
their good advice. (Sometimes I wish I'd been such a developer, like
some people on this list. But I came to the work from the wrong
direction -- which I hope offers its own advantages -- and the
opportunity had passed. And still I try to cultivate the mentality.)
But these people at their best, with all their technical smarts, will
be the first to tell you that it's not really about the technology.
Sure, sometimes which technology to adopt is a make or break choice.
More often, your success as an organization depends more on other
factors, such as perseverence, thoroughness, being receptive to the
market, customers, or clients, or willingness and ability to
communicate among yourselves.
Obviously I can't offer advice to Alessandro since I don't know his
actual situation, but I think it might be worth his considering just
going with the flow. If they're allergic to XSLT, so be it: don't
spend your energies fighting border skirmishes. Chances are, you can
still find opportunities to use XSLT where it's especially well
suited, solve real problems, demonstrate simple solutions, use it
when enables doing things faster or better or otherwise impractical.
In the meantime, you're also gaining valuable experience in other
technologies, and hopefully making a few friends.
Cheers,
Wendell
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Wendell Piez mailto:wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mulberry Technologies, Inc. http://www.mulberrytech.com
17 West Jefferson Street Direct Phone: 301/315-9635
Suite 207 Phone: 301/315-9631
Rockville, MD 20850 Fax: 301/315-8285
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Mulberry Technologies: A Consultancy Specializing in SGML and XML
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