xml-dev - Re: XSL: Why?

[Tyler Baker <tyler@infinet.com>]

"Simon St.Laurent" wrote:

> At 12:25 PM 9/30/98 -0400, Tyler Baker wrote:
> >XSL
> >at the moment does not play any currently implemented role, but I forsee
> that it
> >will be something we actively support as separating abstract content from
> >presentation content I believe will become a mainstay of application
> frameworks
> >for the web.  The best thing we have right now that I have seen is Cold
> Fusion.
> >This primarily is only a server-side solution and costs a lot of money.
> XSL's
> >strength I feel will be on the client side as all that a web server will
> need to
> >do is present easy to construct XML content at the server level, and then
> fetch a
> >stylesheet for the particular user (which could be customized via some
> sort of
> >profile).  The content viewer which may be an HTML browser then can do all of
> >this processing on the client machine rather than bog down the server with
> >complicated content presentation processing.
>
> Once again, CSS can separate abstract content from presentation quite
> neatly.  In what circumstances is this separation so drastic as to require
> a transformation?  I'm sure they must be out there.  Database tables ->
> neatly formatted pages?  Documents that can change their structure at a
> user's whim?
>
> I'm having a hard time coming up with practical uses for XSL that don't
> remind me of nuclear missiles homing in on a gnat, hell bent on blasting
> that little gnat to smithereens.

CSS more or less from my understanding is pretty much completely bound to the web
browser.  If you think that Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are
the best things that will ever become of the internet for end users, then I guess
there is no need for XSL.  XSL I think has much more important future
ramifications outside of the web browser arena.  It would be sad to see the
internet stall on web browser technology as the web browser wars for the time
being are over as little has happened from a technology standpoint that is
innovative and creative in what we now know as the web browser.  This is
completely understandable as neither Netscape or Microsoft has any financial
incentive to improve their products since they both give them away for free.  In
other words, we get what we pay for.

Tyler


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