Re: [xsl] XPath "//", speed, and Saxon

Subject: Re: [xsl] XPath "//", speed, and Saxon
From: Tony Graham <Tony.Graham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:36:14 +0000
On Mon, Nov 03 2008 18:40:42 +0000, andrew.j.welch@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
>> Leaving aside the two questions of whether or not schema awareness is
>> always an option (e.g., when you are using translets) and of exactly how
>> much automated checking is "fashionable" for XSLT to begin with, neither
>> schema awareness nor unit testing is a panacea.
>
> I guess I should explain that bit...
>
> - agile development is fashionable, and one of its essentials is
> automated testing, typically unit tests
>
> - xml schema is not fashionable, and schema-awareness will never get a
> mention because all of the agile related material out there is for
> other languages.  Those people teaching agile will always use unit
> tests as the way to reduce errors.  None of the agile evangelists will
> know about result validation, so it won't get a mention as a suitable
> technique, even though for XSLT its arguably the first thing to do.

Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister in "Peopleware" differentiate between
"big M Methodology" and "small m methodology", and firmly favour
"methodology" over "Methodology".

When the book was written, a Methodology tended to come in enough ring
binders to fill a shelf (or several shelves).  The age of ring binders
may be gone, but it appears that Methodologies may still be with us.

Using their terms, I would consider both unit testing and type checking
as useful methodologies for XSLT.

>> I'm all for testing it in as many ways as possible for the least effort
>> and the maximum confidence in the result.  So using schema awareness
>> when it is an option is perfectly fine by me.
>
> yep, it's all good, by the way the link gives me an error - the
> security certificate is not valid
>
>> [1] https://www.menteithconsulting.com/wiki/XTech2007/MyStylesheetRunsBut#EffectivenessofUnitTesting

The certificate belongs to my webhost, not to me.  You could change
"https" to "http" and try again if you want, since it is the same page
for the same talk to which I earlier referred.

Regards,


Tony Graham                         Tony.Graham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Director                                  W3C XSL FO SG Invited Expert
Menteith Consulting Ltd
XML, XSL and XSLT consulting, programming and training
Registered Office: 13 Kelly's Bay Beach, Skerries, Co. Dublin, Ireland
Registered in Ireland - No. 428599   http://www.menteithconsulting.com
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