Re: Use predicates/patterns or xsl:choose (was:] Styl

I was reading up all stuff about optimizing the performance of xslt. One basic advice I found is:

"Avoid complex patterns in template rules. Instead, use <xsl:choose> within the rule."

(Mike Kay at http://www.dpawson.co.uk/xsl/sect4/N9883.html#d12447e254)

This seems quite old (before July 2000), and I wondered if it is still true with newer Saxon or Xalan versions.

I rather split complex templates in more than one and adjust the match patterns accodingly to
shorten and simplify the actual code inside the xsl:template. So I try to avoid using xsl:choose
or xsl:if areas as much as possible as they make the stylesheet sometimes quite difficult to read
and maintain. And I was under the impression that splitting complex templates in easier ones by
making the match as precise as possible would also be quicker as I (naively) thought the
processor does something like a lookup table before actually performing the transformation.

> So, is it still better to avoid complex patterns or am I understanding the advice in the wrong
> way?

<xsl:template match="my-elem">
  <xsl:choose>
    <xsl:when test="..condition 1..">
      <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="condition1" />
    </xsl:when>
    ...
  </xsl:choose>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="my-elem" mode="condition1">
  .. handling of my-elem in condition 1 ..
</xsl:template>

Thanks a lot Chris

Cheers,
Geert