re: syntax feedback

Guy Murphy wrote

>I think C++ developers and the like may simply have a paradigm
>shift to undergo when moving to XML/XSL.
...
>Maybe developers comming from the background of rigidly typed languages
...make it up as you go along approach of
>mark-up and styling analagous to Hippy radicalism in the 60s :)
NO NO NO!

Please do NOT turn this into a 'rigid programmer-think' vs 'freewheeling
markup' issue. I am certain that if you put XSL syntax in front of your
average HTML programmer it would equally freak them out.

I think a LOT of people will take one look at XSL and reject it out of hand
as being unreadable. I don't think the XML community can afford the
consequences.

The whole point of XML attractiveness is the freewheeling markup. XSL is
like putting a professor in charge of the soapbox derby.

>The only advice I can give is that you might find it helpful to actualy
>picture the XML mark-up in your head when considering XSL patterns.
The problem with the syntax is the awkward language. The need to reconcile
the XSL patterns to your markup is another issue which we may not be able
to escape.

I'm going to think about this very hard over the next couple of weeks. I
think we'll use a combination of CSS syntax for specifying formatting and
something simpler for pattern matching and layout.
Andy Dent BSc MACS AACM, Software Designer, A.D. Software, Western Australia
OOFILE - Database, Reports, Graphs, GUI for c++ on Mac, Unix & Windows
PP2MFC - PowerPlant->MFC portability
http://www.highway1.com.au/adsoftware/crossplatform.html
In SF for Macworld Jan 1st-9th 1999, at the AppMaker stand in DevDepot


 XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list