> From: Kienle, Steven C [IT/0200] 
> [mailto:steven.c.kienle@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Friday, February 14, 2003 5:57 AM
> Subject: RE: xslt core and intuition was RE:  Reference 
> to variable
> c annot be resolved.
> 
> 
> Actually, I'm not sure an intuitive language is good, or even 
> possible.
> Look at all spoken languages.  In the programming world, using C as an
> example, there are many things which can be intuitively 
> understandable with
> enough knowledge of the core, but end up causing more bugs than that
> intuition is worth:  for example
> 
>      if (i = j)
> 
> as an assignment and non-zero value test. That really does 
> make intuitive
> sense if you understand the history of the language.

Maybe this just reinforces your point, but someone experienced with a
procedural language will understand that "=" is an assignment operator and
"==" is an equality operator; however, in XSLT "=" is an equality expression
and <xsl:variable> is the assignment "operator."  That wouldn't see terribly
intuitive to me if I were just learning the language.  (Although your
programming mistake above, written as <xsl:if test="$i = $j">, would make
perfect sense to me now!)

cheers,
b.

| brian martinez                              brian.martinez@xxxxxxxx |
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