• From: "Rushforth, Peter" <Peter.Rushforth@N...>
• To: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@m...>,<xml-dev@l...>
• Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2008 13:22:15 -0500

Roger,

> I am exploring the idea of "do all application coding in the 
> XML languages."

I don't know about doing everything in XSLT or XQuery, sometimes it
isn't possible because perhaps you don't have the time to develop the
library
of functions you might need.  That's not a problem with the language
per se, but maybe shows there is still room for growth in the maturity
of the technology.  

But minimizing the number of moving parts in a solution
is always a good idea, if you can do it, because you have fewer
things to break when changing the environment in which you're working,
for example during version upgrades etc.

When I began processing geographic (GML) data using XSLT a few years
ago, 
I became convinced that the language had no 'impedance mismatch' with
the
data and thus set out to see if mapping applications could be
accomplished.
http://sourceforge.net/project/screenshots.php?group_id=198606

I've learned a lot, and my conclusion is that, yes indeed, they can,
but I'm just one developer. With greater participation in the technology
will come more advanced pre-built functionality (just look at languages
like java and python for example). 

What's more, it's a public standard and hence could be a good choice
to protect your investment in codifying your business logic.  

Besides, with a fantastic open-source processor available (thanks to
Michael Kay), 
and lots of free or low-cost interactive developer tools available, 
the barriers to entry are very low.


Cheers,
Peter Rushforth

• References:
  • Feasibility of "do all application coding in the XML languages"?
    • From: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@m...>