Re: [xml-dev] Basic program structures in XSLT (was: Re: [xml-dev]Data-d

[Rick Jelliffe <rjelliffe@allette.com.au>]

Most basic? 

1. Push versus pull. 

2. Event-based programming =  template matching descent default

3. XPaths 1.0 location steps, and value-of

4. If and choose

5. Rearranging and repeating things: variables,  apply-templates/@select, modes

Not basic: key, function, anything in xpath 2 or 3 but not in xpath 1.

In other words, developers should be trained to first use the distinctive language features before (and instead of) rushing to use generic (I.e. vanilla) functional features. 

Regards

Rick

On Fri, 9 Dec 2022, 6:23 am Ihe Onwuka, <ihe.onwuka@gmail.com> wrote:

On Thu, Dec 8, 2022 at 1:06 PM C. M. Sperberg-McQueen <cmsmcq@blackmesatech.com> wrote:

This provokes a similar but broader question:  are there analogous basic
principles for program design which can be used to guide construction of
a transformation in XSLT?

The schema or a skeleton of the input xml structures tell you all the types of node you have to handle and the built in rules do (by default) an apply-template for each one.