XSLT: Programmer's Reference (Programmer to Programmer) (Paperback)

Kay calls XSLT the "SQL of the Web"--a phrase that is sure to perk up the ears of many readers expecting a simple documentation of just another Web-language standard. Like other Wrox Programmer's Reference series titles, this book starts off with chapters that rapidly introduce the concepts and set the context for the core of the book, which is a complete documentation of the XSLT standard. The book uses this space well to explore the transformation process and the tree structure that is used for both input and output of style sheet documents. By the time the reader gets to the reference section of the book, he or she will be convinced of the power of XSLT.

Each element of XSLT is covered with concise examples that include both the source XML code and style sheet code. XSLT style sheets can be used in a variety of ways and across a wide spectrum of complexity. The book helps the reader grasp this concept by presenting four style sheet design patterns that comprise the vast majority of implementations. The text looks at each, demonstrating how to identify the design pattern by its content and apply it to appropriate circumstances.

XSLT is the true muscle behind XML and is integral to putting XML to work in the real world. This title is simply a must-have for any developer utilising XML. --Stephen W Plain --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Amazon.co.uk Review
XML enables you to create documents that describe their data. XSLT, eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations, is yet another--declarative--language designed to transform an XML document into another XML (or other format) document. XSLT grew out of work on XLS. Before XSLT, each XML transformation required a bespoke program. XSLT provides general transformation solutions. It acts on the nodes of the tree structure created by SAX or DOM, not directly on the original document.

In XSLT Programmer's Reference, Kay covers the processing model, stylesheet structure, XSLT elements and expressions complete with explanations and example usage, patterns (for node matching) and provides a number of worked XSLT examples. XSLT is fairly new, which accounts for the academic feel of the text. It helps to know Kay wrote one of the first XLST applications. The book is bedevilled by uncertainties. For example, XSLT is part of XSL, which defines XML document formatting--and is still under development. Similarly, XPath, now a sub-language within XSLT used in stylesheets and capable of performing calculations and string manipulation is derived from XPointers, which defined links between parts of documents. Their late marriage has left some confusion in usage. Despite the inevitable confusion, the book succeeds in explaining what XLST is, how it works and how stylesheets are constructed and used. Check out the XSLT stylesheet, which calculates a knight's tour of the chessboard and outputs it as HTML.

It's unlikely programmers will work with raw XSLT for long, any more than they write raw HTML. Applications will handle much of the drudgery--a good thing because XSLT is verbose. Still, this is an important book for anyone working at the sharp end with XML. You'll need to know how this stuff is supposed to work despite ambiguities in the specifications. --Steve Patient --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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• Books > Computing & Internet > Programming > Languages & Tools
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• Books > Computing & Internet > Programming > Languages > XML > XSL & XSLT
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