Re: [xsl] Haskell programmer's rant about xslt

[Michael Kay <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> One can debate the merits of such-and-such an approach to
> transformations and the debate should be lively.
>
> But verbiage such as "your bastard child of a language" has no utility
> whatsoever and certainly no place in polite discourse.
>
> I would suggest giving this guy's opinions no further attention.
At one level, of course, you're right, Alan.

On the other hand, a rant like this is a reminder that when as engineers 
we are designing and constructing artefacts, we need to remember that 
people will have an emotional response to those artefacts, rather than a 
purely rational and utilitarian response. Steve Jobs built the Apple 
empire by recognizing that fact and exploiting it. Gerry Weinberg's book 
"the psychology of computer programming" is one I really must read 
again, because it focuses on programming as a human activity in which we 
are driven by many factors that aren't purely rational.

I find the range of emotional reactions to XSLT fascinating. It's a 
"love it or hate it" language (as indeed is Haskell). People approach it 
with very different perspectives: some people are happy to treat it 
initially as a simple fill-in-the-blanks templating language and learn 
its subtleties later, others (like me) find it necessary to understand 
the deep concepts of a tool before they are happy using it. I think it's 
our job as technology designers to understand how the psychology of our 
users that will trigger emotional reactions to the tools that we deliver.

Anyone who wants a new programming language to succeed has to understand 
that it will not succeed or fail on the basis of measurable and rational 
criteria like delivering a 10% improvement in programmer productivity, 
it will succeed or fail on the basis of gut reaction.

Michael Kay
Saxonica