RE: [xsl] MICROSOFT killing xslt

Subject: RE: [xsl] MICROSOFT killing xslt
From: "Kenny Akridge" <kenny@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 09:35:13 -0400
http://blogs.msdn.com/dareobasanjo/archive/2004/05/13/131166.aspx

I personally think that this is a mistake on Microsoft's part.  I can't
understand why they are taking such a shortcut with this.  I now currently
have three development complaints about Microsoft:

No static linker in .NET
The whole parallel runtime issue of .NET 1.0 and 1.1 (and of course the need
for two versions of Visual Studio)
No XSLT/XPath 2.0 implementation in .NET




-----Original Message-----
From: M. David Peterson [mailto:m.david@xxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Friday, May 14, 2004 9:15 AM
To: xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [xsl] killing xslt

Oh, I have no doubt there will be support for 2.0.  But it has been
proven time and time again that a simple announcement from MS of
non-support for a product can have a ripple effect that can have
devastating affects on a product or technology.  I'm not in any way
suggesting that MS is up to any sort of business where they are
purposely trying to kill XSLT.  They are simply doing what they feel is
best for there customers as a whole which is what they are supposed to
be doing so there's not much that can be said about that. But optimism
alone that something will come along will not port Saxon to .NET or in
any way guarantee that something will come along and save our beloved
XSLT from extinction.  You can be optimistic and proactive and
accomplish a lot more than being optimistic and non-active.

You are definitely right from the sense that we shouldn't be taking a
doomsday attitude to this announcement.  I haven't seen any data
regarding how many companies have at least some installed base of
stylesheets to transform there XML data.  But it wouldn't surprise me if
that number was as high as 75-80% and people are going to rewrite there
code base of stylesheets simply because they can.  There has got to be a
fairly strong argument to shift gears and build a brand new code base to
perform what is already being performed by an existing code base.  This
fact alone guarantees that XSLT in its current format will be around for
many years to come.  And there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that
when developers have a chance to look at XQuery and XSLT 2.0 side by
side and compare in each the ability to transform XML data there will be
no more questions to be answered.  XSLT will win that comparison in its
current so theres no doubt that the added features of 2.0 will ensure
that many stylesheets are yet to be written using the 2.0 platform.
But, again, as a community of developers who love the power that XSLT
affords us we have to do what we can to ensure that the wrong
information is not getting into the hands of decision makers and that
the correct information is available in abundance to those who have
questions.

At least that's how I see it and as such have plans to do whatever needs
to be done to get all the correct information into the hands of those
who want it as well as my part in porting Saxon over to .NET as quickly
as possible so that the development of an XSLT 2.0 code base can begin
to makes its way into the .NET production environment.  If that approach
seems pessimistic then I guess I misunderstand the definition ;)

Best regards,

<M:D/>

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jeff Kenton [mailto:Jeffrey.Kenton@xxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2004 6:02 AM
> To: xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [xsl] killing xslt
> 
> 
> I think everyone is being too pessimistic on the subject of XSLT 2.0.
In
> a
> previous lifetime, when I was Chairman of the OASIS XSLT Conformance
> Committee, I was aware of at least 4 XSLT 2.0 development projects or
> announced betas.  So, even if Microsoft won't have one right away,
there
> will
> be XSLT 2.0 processors available.  And, some (but not all ;-) of the
new
> features will draw users and more support as time goes on.  XSLT 1.0
> didn't
> take off overnight either, but it grew as folks discovered its uses.
> 
> 
> 
> --
> 
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
> =    Jeff Kenton      Consulting and software development
=
> =                     http://home.comcast.net/~jeffrey.kenton
=
>
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-

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