How to choose XSLT engine (WAS: Which engine?)

How to choose the XSLT engine?

Following are few advices.

There are several Web sites that list available XSLT-related software.
Enter one of these sites. For instance, you can try
http://www.w3.org/Style/XSL . The section "XSL-Enabled Software" / "XSLT
Processors" on this site lists many existing XSLT engines. The short
description is available for each engine, but be sure to visit vendors'
Web sites to get more detailed and up-to-date information. 

Your goal now is to choose at least 3 (three) different engines. Read
carefully what vendors write about their products. Select engines that
are suitable for your platform. Select from engines for which the
vendors claim conformance to the recent XSLT recommendation dated 16
November 1999 (However, be critical to the conformance claims. To the
best of my knowledge, so far there is no vendor-independent XSLT test
suite, and no vendor-neutral authority exists that could provide XSLT
conformance certification).

Then download selected engines, install them on your computer and check
whether they are alive using demo materials which are normally included
in the distributions. 

Now prepare for your own, independent testing. This time do not use any
demos that come with distributions. Obtain your own XML source documents
and XSLT stylesheets. For instance, you can get examples from the books
(how to get a good book on XSLT - this is the special topic, look some
recent postings at this list. Be careful - your book must present
examples related to the recent XSLT recommendation dated 16 November
1999, otherwise throw this book away - it is useless. Don't use training
materials from vendors of XSLT engines - this materials may contain
vendor-specific features).

Then run selected engines using your examples. Make your own opinion and
select the engine that you think will be the best for you.

Don't be awed by the amount of work you will need to perform following
these advices. It is worth to do - you will learn a lot. And, quite
important, in the future you will avoid situations like this:

"Hi, all. I need your help. I want to solve task A using the engine X.
This engine is not suitable for this task. My friend told me that there
is another engine Y which is much better. But my boss thinks that we
must continue with the engine X, because we already invested a lot in
it. Please, tell me how can I solve task A using the engine X ..."
(based on the real posting on this list)

Be critical to advices like:

"I think that the engines A and B are really the best. Somebody told me
that there are also engines X, Y and Z on the market, but I had never
tried them ..." (again, based on the real posting on this list)

Good luck!

Alexey


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