Re: [xml-dev] XML stylesheets

["B. Tommie Usdin" <btusdin@mulberrytech.com>]

At 2:52 PM -0700 9/17/01, Thom, John L. wrote:
>How long does it take to create a stylesheet?

What a difficult question!  The only reliable answer is: It Depends.

Among the things that affect time to create a stylesheet (from least to most important) are:
  - size of the DTD (not just number of elements; attributes that
    affect processing also count)
  - complexity of the DTD
  - complexity of the desired transformation
     - do you want a stylesheet to style the data in it's current
       sequence?
     - do you want to create input files for another application,
       and if so, how complex are they?
     - how much re-arrangement, consolidation, computation, and
       other folding like a pretzel do you want to do?
   - quality of the specification: how well do you know what
       you want the stylesheet to do?  (And do you have either
       a written specification or a sample of what the result
       should  be? Preferably both!)
   - stability of the specification: how often will it change
      during stylesheet development
 

>Experience of person who created such a stylesheet?

Of course experience matters, just like with any other programming language.  And experience with non-procedural languages is key; programmers with a lot of experience with procedural languages may have a very hard time learning to work with XSLT (as opposed to fighting it).

>What does a novice need to understand/know to create stylesheets?

Another difficult question!  The only reliable answer is: It Depends. In this case it largely depends on the complexity of the transformation and the quality of the specification.

-- Tommie

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B. Tommie Usdin                        mailto:btusdin@mulberrytech.com
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