Re: Subject: One-based indexes in XPath

For processing content, one-based makes a lot of sense.

<book>
  <chapter/>
  <chapter/>
  <chapter/>
</book>

Do I select the zero chapter or the first chapter?

For arrays it is neither here nor there.  Javascript, Java, C++,
CSharp use zero-base notation because they all borrow their syntax
from C.

--
John Cavalieri
john.cavalieri@xxxxxxxxx


>From: Justin Johansson <procode@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: One-based indexes in XPath
>
>Trusting this question is relevant to the XSL List.
>
>Would someone please give me advice as to why "1-based" indexes are used in
>XPath, such as para[1] instead of para[0] for the first para item/element?
>
>Why does the spec for XPath (and its/XQuery operator/function library) go
>against the norm for modern programming languages in which zero is the base
>for array-like collections?
>
>The reason for my question is to do with reconciling XPath and XSLT with an
>implementation in Javascript in which zero is the base index for arrays.
>My users may well be perplexed by having to decide whether an index number
>is in XPath/XSLT-world or Javascript-world.
>
>Thanks for comments,
>
>Justin Johansson