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object-oriented XSL


hi all,

although not strictly XSL-bound, i'm working on this idea which i think
many of you could be interested in. what interests me is the pros and cons
of the XSL programming paradigm, and i would very much like to hear what
other people on this list think.

the idea is based on the concept of using XML as a programming language,
pretty much like XSL, but instead of a declarative, transform-focused
language it would be procedural, even object-oriented.

why? xslt developers often come across problems that cannot be solved with
xsl(t) without bending over backwards to try to make the language do
something it wasn't designed to do. typically this happens when business
logic starts seeping in to the presentation layer. meanwhile, doing simple
business logic in xsl has great advantages - it's a simple, intuitive
(mostly) environment to work in where the results can generally be seen
immediately. best of all, xsl _is_ xml, which means you don't have to
use proprietary apis to read/write xml data. instead you've got XPath,
which in my opinion is the best thing to happen to XML since... since XML!

so why not write the business logic, the bits that generate or process the
xml, in a programming language that gives you the same advantages as xslt?

imagine a fully-blown object-oriented language that looks pretty much
like xsl, but it allows you to define new XPath functions and types that
encapsulate both data (as xml) and logic. xslt already has most of the
program constructs needed - if, choose/when, (named) templates - only a
way to define types and associate functions (or templates) with them would
be needed. oh, and some other changes to make the language procedural at
core, such as variable mutability and a state machine.

i've been experimenting with various solutions in the past few months, and
will hopefully be able to present a working beta some day - in the
meantime i would be very interested to hear if anyone else has ideas
along the same lines!

sorry to take up space on an already heavily trafficked list, but i know
no other way to reach the informed and insightful XML cognoscenti!

thank you for your time,

/m



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