Re: [xsl] 1.0 and 2.0 and suitability for tasks

Subject: Re: [xsl] 1.0 and 2.0 and suitability for tasks
From: Wendell Piez <wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2005 17:54:48 -0400
At 05:40 PM 8/24/2005, David wrote:
I think XSLT 1 will hang around for a long time, because I don't expect
to see xslt2 in the browsers any time soon, and because many of us have
a lot of xslt1 code, but for my own projects (which are almost aways
document-oriented) I'd always use xslt2 for new projects.

As long as we're putting cards on the table: I think I'm just a few months behind you.


I still want (and even need) XSLT in the browser, at least for development purposes. And I work with stylesheets intended for a range of publishing platforms in which XSLT 2 is still not commonly supported. I have had great success with Saxon 8.x under Cocoon, which is way cool, but I can't depend on every project or framework having that.

So I'm using XSLT 2.0 but I'm not quite to the point where "I'd always use it for new projects".

The one thing on which I agree with you most is that the committee seems to have done an amazing job (much better than could have been expected, and nearly what might have been hoped for) in aligning the data typing with what was demanded from XML Schema, while keeping it more or less tractable both with and (especially) without a schema. I still have quite a bit to learn about how this all hangs together (book knowledge is one thing; it's another to know with your hands), which is one reason I'm nervous about learnability :-> ... but it's certainly better than we feared.

Oh, and I also agree that it's to the committee's credit that they took a "scratch where it itches" approach to extending XSLT constructs to include grouping, functions, and the transparent processing of results. (The shelving of XSLT 1.1 was unfortunate, I think, given how close it was to being just what was needed at that time.) They have much to be proud of. But I'll be happiest when I see the vendors taking the same approach, putting the needs of the users (the market) first.

Cheers,
Wendell


====================================================================== 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Mulberry Technologies: A Consultancy Specializing in SGML and XML ======================================================================

Current Thread