Re: Benefits of xsd-types in XSLT

Cheers,
ac

On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 8:33 AM, Jesper Tverskov <jesper@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi list

We often hear that one of the great benefits of using XSLT 2.0 is that
it uses the datatypes of XML Schema, most likely the same datatypes as
input XML and output XML, making type conversion not necessary.

It is easy to understand that the above is important and it is easy to
make up small examples like comparing a "date" datatype in XML Schema,
C# and Java.

But how great a benefit is it really? E.g.: when using XML data
binding, the XML Schema datatypes are, as far as I know, automatically
converted to the type system of C#, Java, etc. Does such automatic
conversion work or must it be fine tuned?

Sorry, it is not clear what the question really is...

One of the biggest advantages of having typed variables (including any
document, any parameters and results from an xsl:template or from an
xsl:function) is the static typed checking that will raise errors
during compile time, vs run time or never raised at all.

Without the typing feature of XPath 2.0/XSLT 2.0 one would need
type-inference/theorem-prooving just to deduce the types of any
programming-language item, and in order to fully understand a program
(even one written by themselves).

Another big benefit is a new, huge opportunity for optimization.

The obvious benefit of this feature is reduced developer time,
increased quality, safety and performance.

The combination of all of the above results in a quantitative leap
forward in development technology and programmer's experience. The
gross benefit goes also to the end user.