Re: [xsl] Where is 'intersect' Operator Defined in XPath 3?

["C. M. Sperberg-McQueen cmsmcq@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Dimitre Novatchev dnovatchev@xxxxxxxxx" <xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

>>  >   If some feature is difficult to find, chances grow significantly that
>> >  a more representative portion of the dev audience may not be aware of
>> > this feature at all.
>> 
>>   That is true and we should strive to improve the state of the
>>   specifications wherever we can.
>
> And we have a many years-long example of this:
>
> In Xpath 2.0 a very powerful new feature was introduced: that the last
> step in a path can be a function call.
>
> But this was nowhere properly described in any of the official
> specifications, except in the language grammar rules. Thus even today
> many developers are not aware of this feature and are absolutely
> surprised when told about it.

Assuming that your description of this situation is accurate, I think
many of us can think of possible explanations for such a state of
affairs that do not involve anything one might describe as a "failure"
in the documentation, still less an "epic" one.

Speaking for myself, I first learned XSLT some years before XSLT 2.0
appeared, and my mental model of XSLT still places the 1.0 constructs
more or less at the center of the language; I use, and in general I
*think of*, constructs from 2.0 and 3.0 as supplements to the core of
the language.  I am sure I don't know them all -- I know the ones I use
because they help me with problems I have.  

In the last few decades, I have read a good many national standards,
international standards, and technical specifications from a variety of
standards bodies.  The QT specs strike me, in general, as well above the
90th percentile in clarity, organization, and ease of consultation.  If
we are thinking of launching a crusade to improve the writing and
organization of technical specifications, I think there are many more
deserving targets than the QT specs.  


-- 
C. M. Sperberg-McQueen
Black Mesa Technologies LLC
http://blackmesatech.com