Re: XSLT 1.1 comments

Uche Ogbuji wrote:
>
> > introducing the need for language bindings only reduces general
> > interoperability while giving a small boost to
> > interoperability between small axes of implementations.
> >

Michael Kay wrote:
> 
> I don't understand. How can defining a Java language binding which
> implementors are at liberty to implement or not, reduce interoperability
> when compared with allowing each implementor to invent a different Java
> language binding, which is the current situation at XSLT 1.0?
> 

I agree with Uche.

In XSLT 1.0, the vendor of any particular XSLT processor can specify and
implement the proprietary mechanism for building custom extensions. In
XSLT stylesheets, these extensions appear as XPath extension functions.
There are no platform-specific features contained in XSLT stylesheets
themselves. Potentially, a stylesheet using extension function can be
ported to any other XSLT processor, provided that this new processor
implements the adequate mechanism for building custom extensions. Of
course, extension functions must be re-implemented, but the XSLT
stylesheet itself remains unchanged.

In XSLT 1.1, there is <xsl:script>, and there is Java as a standard
language for extension development. This invites to create XSLT
stylesheets containing mixed XSLT and Java code, which are portable only
between Java-based XSLT processors. This clearly reduces
interoperability in comparison with the approach based on XSLT 1.0,
which keeps the specific language bindings apart from the core XSLT
specification.

Well, XSLT 1.1 indeed DOES improve interoperability in comparison to
XSLT 1.0 - for vendors and users of Java-based XSLT implementations. For
vendors and users of non-Java XSLT processors XSLT 1.1 offers NOTHING in
addition to XSLT 1.0.

By the way, the liberty to implement or not to implement Java language
binding exists only in theory. The COST of implementing Java binding is
very much different for XSLT implementors which use Java, and for XSLT
implementors using different languages.

Regards,

Alexey Gokhberg

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