XSLT is a functional language and this is a big topic. This is how I
explain the lack of responses to the OP -- a good reply could be to
write a book on this topic.

Therefore, I would recommend a good (probably Haskell-based) book on
functional programming.

The best explanation of FXSL is in the two papers presented at the
Extreme Markup Languages Conference (2003, 2006) -- especially the
latter, which covers FXSL 2 (for XSLT 2.0):

It's a pity that most traditional programming is based on imperative
languages, which severely undermines the ability of the regular
programmer to broadly understand a problem, to analyze it
independently from any implementation choices and in particular to
think outside of the limited imperative paradigm.

Learning functional programming gives people a broader thinking
framework  and problem understanding, frees them from the unconscious
limitations accumulated in the course of the historically incorrect
approach towards education of computer programming.

--
Cheers,
Dimitre Novatchev
---------------------------------------
Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence.
---------------------------------------
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk
-------------------------------------
You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what
you're doing is work or play

On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 20:36:19 -0700, Nic James Ferrier
<nferrier@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> functional programming is a big subject.

True, though it seems the original question was more specific to
functional programming as it relates to XSLT, and in this particular case,
there is no better source than Dimitre Novatchev's various FXSL
(Functional XSLT extension library) related articles, papers, and of
course, the FXSL library itself.

Please visit http://fxsl.sourceforge.net/, grab your favorite
mid-afternoon snack and beverage of choice, and then indulge in all that
the above link has to offer.

--
/M:D

M. David Peterson
http://mdavid.name | http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/au/2354 |
http://dev.aol.com/blog/3155