[XSL-LIST Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date]

Re: [xsl] Why are there no XSLT processors implemented in XSLT?

---

---

On Tue, May 1, 2012 at 1:04 PM, David Carlisle <davidc@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On 01/05/2012 12:49, Costello, Roger L. wrote:
>>
>> Hi Folks,
>>
>> I will take the following as an axiom:
>>
>>       Programs written to process XML should be implemented in XSLT.
>>
>> An XSLT processor is a program that processes XML.
>>
>> Therefore an XSLT processor should be implemented in XSLT.  (As an
>> analogy, many C compilers are implemented in C.)
>>
>> However, there are no XSLT processors implemented in XSLT.
>>
>> Instead, XSLT processors are implemented in languages such as Java.
>>
>> The implication of this state of affairs is this: "For real, manly XML
>> processing don't use XSLT; instead, use Java."
>>
>
>
> The entire argument appears spurious, so it seems fruitless to try to argue
> specific points.
>
> Why would anyone even try to do this, even if it were possible, it would be
> vast amounts of work and would just produce an xslt engine that is slower
> than the one you started with.
>

I think you a being a little harsh.

On that criterium, one could equally ask why bother trying to write a
compiler in anything other than C (or Assembler).

Possible answer(s)

Research? What you might learn along the way, you may not get a useful
processor but there would probably some intellectually useful end
result. Perhaps you would learn about some hitherto unknown limitation
or generate some other useful by-product.

---