> As has been noted on this list before, I tend to call all variables x
> unless forced by circumstances to use some more radical names
> (such as y
> or z). Some computer scientists consider this bad style, but
> mathematicians have been doing it quite happily for a few
> hundred years
> without too many problems...
>

mathematics might be quite abstract. using names which make (any) code more
readable (like meaningful xml element names too) are IMHO a better option.
XSLT tends to be quite unreadable at times especially with complex xpath
expressions and so meaningful variable names is what I would prefer. only
exceptions would be like counter variables (which are not very common in xslt
of course).

chris