> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nic James Ferrier [mailto:nferrier@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 3:38 AM
> To: xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re:  <quote>XSL is NOT easy</quote>
>
> Andreas Peter <info@xxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>
> > Quoting Nic James Ferrier <nferrier@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
> >
> >> Yes. Not just programming languages but CSS, HTML and Word
documents
> >> too.
> >
> > Unfortunately I am one of those "self-taught amateur programmers".
But
> > the point is that those poeple have to start somewhere, too.
> > And I agree XSL programming looked very easy at the first sight but
if
> > you want to get deeper into this programming language it is of
course
> > very difficult, particularly if you do not have any programming
> > experience. But Thank God this list exists :-)
>
> Hey! I'm a self taught amateur too! (Actually, I'm not sure who
> isn't).

I'm a self-taught professional, at least with respect to XSLT.  ;-)

I learned the language on-the-job in 2001 and then spent the next three
years programming almost exclusively in it, building the front end of a
major travel site entirely in XSLT (with a lot of client-side scripting
and some Java thrown in for good measure).

I spent a couple of years away from XSLT but I now work at a shop where
my XSLT skills are put to good use, which is cool, but now I wish we'd
migrate to XSLT 2.0 so I can do more on-the-job learning!

> I think XSLT is quite good for non-programmers, it's programmers with
> some experience of other things that find it really difficult I've
> found.

I'd say this was true of my initial experience with XSLT, just because
of the paradigm shift it required.  But I can't imagine a programming
newbie wanting to start with XSLT unless they have a need or desire to
work with XML from the outset.  Now that I've spent some time with Ruby,
for example, I think it is an excellent choice for a first language.

cheers,
b.