Re: [xsl] when to use xslt

[Daniel Bibbens <dbibbens@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Henning Waack <henning.waack@xxxxxx> writes:

> Hello all.
>
> [snipped]
>
> If anyone would like to add some disadvantages or advantages of XSLT
> against other languages, please do so, I am glad for every hint I
> can get. (I am writing a paper for university, btw)
>

I'm going to add, for no other reason than to illustrate what is
possible with XSLT, that I've written a complete, non-trivial,
commercial web site ENTIRELY in pure XSLT (v1.0) --  using no language
extensions. I am a professional programmer and have been for 15
years. I am fluent and quite capable in C, Perl and Java. I know, ex
post facto, that:

      1. I wrote fewer lines of code than the alternate approaches I
         could have taken (i.e. PHP, JSP, ASP (alone or with any
         "back-end" language like C, Perl, or Java)).

      2. I know that it is fast, handles heavy loads, and is resource
         efficient.

      3. I will do it again.

When I encounter a requirement that XSL doesn't support (i.e. I/O,
date/time, etc...), I satisfy that requirement by putting the
implementation at a URL that returns XML and use the
'document($url)//' function. To me, an XML/XSL library
(parser/processor) is a coarse-grained component not unlike a
webserver or RDBMS.
      
I have found that experienced programmers coming from other languages
have a challenge learning XSL but that beginners have a far easier
time of it. I have also found that in less-than-innovative corporate
environments, this approach is met with accusations of heresy.

See:      http://bebenique.com/ 
See also: http://xobjex.com/
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