Re: qualitative decline of xsl-list questions

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mike Brown
> I think we do try to distinguish between situations where there's just
a
> language barrier or gaps in knowledge that lead one to use the wrong
> terminology or make mistaken assumptions, etc., and those cases where
the
> poster has unwittingly indicated that they're just outright
incompetent.
> 

XSLT is also being used a lot more now than it was even a year ago. A
lot more XSLT projects, but still not too many pure "XSLT developers" on
anybody's payroll that I can see. From what I've seen out in the field,
many IT managers are throwing these XSLT projects into the laps of
people who know nothing about XSLT. They're dumping these projects
either on overworked OOP programmers, who think like OOP programmers
when they're evaluating XSLT tasks, or on overworked HTML/JavaScript
code jockeys, who are either completely flummoxed or who also think like
OOP programmers when they're evaluating XSLT tasks. I don't know if
anybody on this list has seen the kinds of awful code I've seen out
there, but my experience has been that some very ghastly stuff is
sitting in repositories. I can't tell you how many times I've seen
people throw JavaScript into some XSLT "to make it work." In each case,
they seem to have Mike Kay's book on the shelf, but either they're not
reading it, or they're ignoring its basic tenets.

It seems only polite to take these steps before asking a question:

1. Read the XSLT FAQ at http://www.dpawson.co.uk/. It will answer 90% of
your questions. 
2. Check the archives.
3. Do a Google search on a specific term and XSLT. 
4. Think.

One reason so many people on this list provide such thoughtful responses
is they enjoy the thinking that goes along with each individual XSLT
"puzzle." It would be nice if IT managers would do a little thinking of
their own before dumping XSLT projects onto the laps of people who
haven't had time to learn the language. Hello? Have you heard of the
word "contractor?".  
 
Chuck White

-------------------------

Author, Mastering XSLT, Sybex Books
Co-Author, Mastering XML Premium Edition, Sybex Books
http://www.javertising.com/webtech/
http://www.tumeric.net

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