RE: [xslt 2.0] Difference betwen functions and templat

> The bottom line is that named templates and functions are 
> essentially the same thing and it would have been possible 
> for XSLT 2.0 to do away with either xsl:call-template or xsl:function.

Yes, that's largely true. At one stage in the development of XSLT 2.0 there
were many more differences but we gradually brought them back into line.

My usual style is to use templates when constructing new nodes, functions
when reading existing nodes. But you could use functions everywhere. If
functions had existed first, there would be no reason to invent named
templates.

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/