What is this book about?

XSLT 2.0 Programmer’s Reference, 3rd Edition, is the authoritative reference guide to the language. Without using the formal and inaccessible language of the W3C specifications, it tells you exactly what every construct in the language does, and how it is intended to be used. This book is a reference rather than a tutorial; it is designed for the professional programmer who is using the language every day. It is the book that people quote when they claim that a particular product is giving the wrong answer, and the book that implementers of the language turn to when they want clarification of the specifications.

At the same time, the book is readable. Reviews of the previous editions of the XSLT Programmer’s Reference, which this book grew from, show that readers appreciate the background material on the design thinking behind the language, the essay on functional programming, the occasional dry wit, the gentle criticism of the language specification when appropriate, and the fact that the examples stray into a diverse range of interesting application areas.

What is this book about?

XSLT 2.0 Programmer’s Reference, 3rd Edition, is the authoritative reference guide to the language. Without using the formal and inaccessible language of the W3C specifications, it tells you exactly what every construct in the language does, and how it is intended to be used. This book is a reference rather than a tutorial; it is designed for the professional programmer who is using the language every day. It is the book that people quote when they claim that a particular product is giving the wrong answer, and the book that implementers of the language turn to when they want clarification of the specifications.

At the same time, the book is readable. Reviews of the previous editions of the XSLT Programmer’s Reference, which this book grew from, show that readers appreciate the background material on the design thinking behind the language, the essay on functional programming, the occasional dry wit, the gentle criticism of the language specification when appropriate, and the fact that the examples stray into a diverse range of interesting application areas.

When XML debuted in 1998, it was quickly embraced as both a practical tool and a strategic technology. XSLT and XPath soon became the preferred high-level languages for manipulating XML content. Now the editor of the XSLT 2.0 specification has written the ultimate reference manual for XSLT 2.0. You ll gain a complete understanding of the concepts underlying XSLT, what s new in version 2.0, the structure of XSLT stylesheets, their relationship to XML schemas, and more. You will see how the language provides extensibility, and how to use it to create real XSLT applications. Finally, you will learn to use XSLT as a functional programming language to tackle complex computational problems. What you will learn from this book What s new in XSLT since the previous edition of this bestselling book Where XSLT fits into the XML family What every construct in the language does, and how to use each one How XSLT transforms XML to handle data conversions and data publishing How to use XSLT elements, patterns, and functions Development methods for specific stylesheets How to apply XSLT design patterns to produce selected results Who this book is for This book is for professional XML and XSLT programmers and programmers experienced in XML, HTML, and Web architecture who want to learn XSLT. Wrox Programmer s References are designed to give the experienced developer straight facts on a new technology, without hype or unnecessary explanations. They deliver hard information with plenty of practical examples to help you apply new tools to your development projects today.

What is this book about?

XSLT 2.0 Programmer’s Reference, 3rd Edition, is the authoritative reference guide to the language. Without using the formal and inaccessible language of the W3C specifications, it tells you exactly what every construct in the language does, and how it is intended to be used. This book is a reference rather than a tutorial; it is designed for the professional programmer who is using the language every day. It is the book that people quote when they claim that a particular product is giving the wrong answer, and the book that implementers of the language turn to when they want clarification of the specifications.

At the same time, the book is readable. Reviews of the previous editions of the XSLT Programmer’s Reference, which this book grew from, show that readers appreciate the background material on the design thinking behind the language, the essay on functional programming, the occasional dry wit, the gentle criticism of the language specification when appropriate, and the fact that the examples stray into a diverse range of interesting application areas.

What is this book about? XSLT 2.0Programmer’s Reference, 3rd Edition,is the authoritative reference guide to the language. Without using the formal and inaccessible language of the W3C specifications, it tellsyou exactly what every construct in the language does, and how it is intended to be used. This book is a reference rather than a tutorial; it is designed for the professional programmer who is using the language every day. It is the book that people quote when they claim that a particular product is giving the wrong answer, and the book that implementers of the language turn to when they want clarification of the specifications. At the same time, the bookis readable. Reviews of the previous editions of the XSLT Programmers Reference, whichthis bookgrew from, show that readers appreciate the background material on the design thinking behind the language, the essay on functional programming, the occasional dry wit, the gentle criticism of the language specification when appropriate, and the fact that the examples stray into a diverse range of interesting application areas.

Lousy design/layout impairs usability
I purchased this book primarily as a reference when I need a little more detail on a tag or function. The author has done what seems to be an entirely thorough job documenting each tag and function in a consistent and useful manner. Once I find it, the content is all I need. I have yet to read through the other chapters; I have a feeling they will provide useful insights.

Unfortunately, it is all but impossible to thumb through the book to find a specific tag. Because the tags and function names are all lowercase, they appear almost identical to the next-level headings which are mixed case. A rule under the paragraph or something would have helped a lot (I have been marking each with a highlighter). I’m not sure why they didn’t maintain the boldface from the TOC (see below); that would have helped.

The headers and footers display nothing more than the chapter name/number and page number-- contrast this with a typical O’Reilly design (JavaScript 5th Edition) where the page headers in the Core JS Reference chapter show the first and last entries on the spread just like a (good) dictionary.

So, you can expect to have to refer to the Table of Contents often. Unfortunately, there is typically 4"+ (10-12cm) of blank space between an entry and its page number in the table of contents. This would be another usability disaster except that they at least boldface the tag and function names along with their page numbers. (Hint to designer: dot leaders have been around for a while now...)

I will avoid purchasing reference works from Wrox/Wiley in the future.

For serious developers only -- but perfect for the right audience
This is exactly what I want from a technical book on a tricky, subtle topic_ it is *serious* and does not kid around. If you’re new to programming, XML, declarative languages, or regular expressions: this is not the book for you. If you’re familar with all those things and want to put a new tool in your toolbelt, this is the book. It explains the semantics and the processing model thoroughly, instead of just describing the syntax. It also serves as a reference for XSLT 1.0, because the author carefully indicates what features are available in which version.
I recommend getting the companion XPath book XPath 2.0 Programmer’s Reference (Programmer to Programmer) at the same time; the XSLT book doesn’t cover XPath, but you really need solid XPath skills to accomplish anything with XSLT.
Just one problem: the diagrams are really ugly. They weren’t designed for print; they’re jaggy and blurry. I’ve seen the same diagrams in other materials though; I think it’s part of the XSLT spec.

For serious developers only -- but perfect for the right audience
This is exactly what I want from a technical book on a tricky, subtle topic: it is *serious* and does not kid around. If you’re new to programming, XML, declarative languages, or regular expressions: this is not the book for you. If you’re familar with all those things and want to put a new tool in your toolbelt, this is the book. It explains the semantics and the processing model thoroughly, instead of just describing the syntax. It also serves as a reference for XSLT 1.0, because the author carefully indicates what features are available in which version.
I recommend getting the companion XPath book XPath 2.0 Programmer’s Reference (Programmer to Programmer) at the same time; the XSLT book doesn’t cover XPath, but you really need solid XPath skills to accomplish anything with XSLT.
Just one problem: the diagrams are really ugly. They weren’t designed for print; they’re jaggy and blurry. I’ve seen the same diagrams in other materials though; I think it’s part of the XSLT spec.

Excellent choice
In addition to his obvious authority on the subject of XSLT Michael Kay is one of the best writers out there. This book gives a thorough explication of the history and concepts behind XSLT that is valuable for newcomers and informative for more experienced hands. It is written for those with experience with programming languages but new to XSLT or new to XSLT 2.0. It presents thorough documentation for elements and functions, with examples of their use.

Not a stand-alone book
From the book’s introduction: "In previous editions, XSLT and XPath were covered in a single volume. This time, they have been divided into two separate books: this one covers XSLT 2.0, while the companion book ’XPath 2.0 Programmer’s Reference" describes XPath." ... "This book is intended to be used alongside the companion volume ... Since XSLT 2.0 has such a strong dependence on XPath 2.0, you really need both books."

It turns out, most of the questions I needed answered aren’t even covered in this book. That was frustrating for me.

not for beginners
I would not think this book is a "start learning xslt book". It is not meant to be start of with. It is a definately a great reference book for xslt 1.0 and updates for xslt 2.0. This is a kind of book in which you work your way from the index at the back of the book to the desired topic.

For sale: One boat anchor.
Agree with others that it is not a good introduction book. Dense, long-winded, I kept waiting for information I could use without needing to read 4 other chapters.

As an added bonus, I’ll throw in the XPath book as well. For those of you who have two boats.

Stick to the older release
I’ve bought the XSLT Programmer’s Reference from the same author and it’s a terrific book, so when XSLT 2.0 came out, I immediately bought it ... only to be highly disapponted. The previous edition (or the original book if you like) covered everything you need to know (or ever wanted to know) to become an XSLT 1.0 guru. This one contains half of it, the other half is in another book (XPATH 2.0).

While I understand that XSLT 2.0 has expanded so much that XSLT+XPATH don’t fit into a single book (plus it generates more revenue for the author and the publisher), buying this book at the current point in time (where there is very limited support for XSLT 2.0) is a questionable choice. You’re much better off buying the older version, which covers (the whole span of) technology used in actual products.

Excellent, Comprehenive and Praxis Oriented
I had to do something with XSLT. I never did really anything with XSLT before, but are very familiar with XML and programming in general.

I got from a friend the prior edition (XSLT 2nd Ed.) to this one (XSLT 2.0) and was impressed about the deep knowledge, especially the practical one and loved the comparison to actual source code in other programming languages in cases where XSLT and its philosophy differs dramatically from classic programming languages.

I found the answers to all my (tricky) issues, except to one where I got enough information to figure it out myself though. I struggled and still do when it comes to html tags usage as value in XSLT Functions. Be it "translate" , "regex" or "substring-after" etc. I still did not get my translate of white spaces (line break) to html line-breaks ( br - tag ) working 100%. May be the updated Edition answers this only thing that was not 100% perfect covered (for me) in the previous edition.

The book "stole" an hour from me to read the interesting chapters about the programming language philosophy behind XSLT, the "functional programming" rather than "structured programming". I saw a lot of other chapters providing a well researched history of computer programming before the Internet until now.

The Book is big and it is not one of those big books that are artificially inflated by adding screen shots of intuitive and straight forward pages that do not require any explanation. No, not in this case. You get over 700 pages (2nd Ed) and over 900 pages (this edition) full of great stuff that would still make a good book, even if you remove every part about XSLT from it.

I came to buy the 2nd Edition today and saw the XSLT 2.0 (3rd Edition) which I obviously bought instead. I am looking forward to get the updated and obviously greatly extended version within the next few days. You get a lot of knowledge and experience for what the books price is (I am amazed how cheap it, Wrox, I think I got the better end of the bargain in case of this book ;) )

The mentioned resources in the book are also great. I added several of them next to Michael Kay’s books to the Web Development Resources Section of my personal (but public) Internet Marketing and Web Development portal at [...].

I hated this book
The author spends the first 176 pages giving an overview of XSLT using terms that he hasn’t defined yet! I like the analytical approach, I like overviews before I dive into the details, but, for goodness’ sake, defining how the engine transforms a document in terms of xslt operations and functions that aren’t even discussed yet is just a really weird way of explaining something.

Then, in chapter 5, the 320 page chapter where he covers the xslt elements in alphabetical order, he gives you a nice little table on pp 175-6 that groups the elements together logically by function, but he doesn’t even bother to give you the page numbers, so you can’t use the table to drive your reading unless you go through the index and manually copy each page number.

Almost everything in the book seems to explain something in terms of something else that isn’t explained yet, and that isn’t even easy--or possible--to find, so you spend the whole book (900+ pages) juggling stuff in the air, hoping you keep everything straight until you finally get enough information to actually understand something well enough to use it.

As an example, as someone who just wants to do a few things with XSLT since I am not and never will aspire to be an XSLT developer--I just need to use a little of it for my current project--one of the most important elements for me to learn is the for-each select="x". Well, guess what? The x turns out to be an XPath expression, and since both XSLT and XPath are now so big, I have to buy another 500+ book on XPath in order to understand the for-each. You may say, that that’s the way it is, and I just just suck it up and do it (which I am), but a better author could have made the information a little easier to master.

In conclusion, I am not suggesting that Kay doesn’t know what he’s talking about, or even that XSLT developers won’t like this book. I am saying that, for the rest of us who just want to do a few things and then get on with our lives, this is not the book to buy. I can’t imagine a worse book for anyone who just wants to learn enough XSLT to get by. And even for those who do want to learn it all, this is still a really weird book.

Its a reference. Not a tutorial.
I’ve read the reviews on here and the lower ratings really lost sight of what this book is about - its a programmers REFERENCE. Not a tutorial hand holding guide. It is meant to give details on why XSLT is what it is in detail. It is not meant to teach you through step by step examples.

That said, on this basis, the book gets four stars. To be given the opportunity to read through the words of a W3C member who was directly involved in the XSLT 2.0 specification is a gift. How many times do you get the chance to read technical works directly from the source in this amount of detail? Realize Mr. Kay also has done something few people have - created an XSLT processor. So you are getting more information than what you will probably ever need but all packed into one large reference. More so, its one individual, not a group of people where thoughts and theories are disconnected.

This book is not an easy read. If you are looking to get up and running creating stylesheets forget it and be left disappointed. At times it is dry and boring and has too much information to get lost in. Because it is a programmer’s reference I really didn’t want to know everything, just the 80% of things that really matter. And that’s what a programmers reference should be - a well organized book that lets you find things quickly and has enough information in it to let you make decisions.

Unfortunately, there are few XSLT books that are worth reading. Yes, this book reads like a technical IMPLEMENTATION specifcation. Use this book when you want to know how things work and why it was designed that way.

Undoubtedly Comprehensive
I can truly understand the frustrations that I am reading in the reviews. At first I found the book hard to read because this subject area was new to me. You have to get into an XML mindset to understand what you’re reading in this book. There appears to be an assumption that you’re familiar with the subject matter and have some level of knowledge in XML and general knowledge of HTML. This is definitley not a first book to read if you’re getting started in XML. Someone in one of the reviews said that you should supplement this book with other books and I have to agree. If you’re planning on becoming heavy duty in XML then this book will probalby end up on your bookshelf.

The book is a Programmer’s Refrence and they aren’t usually fun to read in the first place. For the most part I have to agree with everyone elses reviews. I will say the book becomes easier to read when you become more savy with XML.

This review is not to place judgement on this book but to instruct people on the order of learning this information. On the back cover of this book, there is diagram that shows the order of books to read. The first book is "Beginning XML". I haven’t read this book but an intro book on XML is good to have.

I am rating this book as reference book for what it is.

Mixed opinions on this book.
This is a difficult book to review. It contains invaluable information and, with a lot of work, I was able to learn what I needed to learn about XSLT. On the other hand, it could have been written so much better. You can’t plan on using it as your only source of XSLT information. Supplement it with other books and online resources and you will do fine.

It better be on your shelf.
If XSLT is considered part of the job and I’ve got a hand in interviewing, I ask what books they have on their shelf. I don’t care if they own a library - everyone has priorities and don’t like to read everything. But when it comes to XSLT, this book had better be on their shelf or it raises some serious questions in my mind regarding their XSLT background. You either need it (I do) or you’re so good you could write your own XSLT book (in which case, I can test you for that as I used to work in computer book publishing and had to do all of the "hard books").

In May, 1992, Windows 3.1 programming came into vogue and everyone wanted to know "What’s the best book I can buy for Windows programming?" (on usenet, they show their ignorance by asking the question asked thirty times yesterday and don’t look to see what was said). The answer was [almost] always, "Petzold, and any one of the following: ...". In the world of XSLT, it’s "Michael Kay and any one of the following...". It’s *that* important. (and that good) Before they made the digital available, I pondered keeping a copy at home and another at work. I ended up keeping the 2nd edition at work, 1st edition at home. Something was better than nothing [at home].

And as disclaimer, I have nothing to do with any of the resources which stand to gain from my saying all of this. If you can’t afford this book, the holidays are coming. If you’ve got a birthday coming up before it, use that birthday wish by using a hint. Otherwise, take advantage of sitting on Santa’s lap and make it plain & clear you’d be happy if you got this book and nothing else.

Great material, awful presentation
The author is one of the great xslt scholars, and this book is a brillant testimony to the breath of his knowledge.

The author is a professional, Wrox is a professional publisher. Then how come the book is so utterly poorly organized? Any book bearing the subtitle "Programmer’s Reference" should be organized in such a way that the programmer will rapidly find what she’s looking for. Thats is certainly not the case here. An intelligent use of page headers and footers is the first thing a reference book should try to achieve. No such attempt here (try to imagine a dictionnary with no page headers...).

The same goes for the use of titles and subtitles, general chapter and page organisation, font choices etc. The whole thing is a typesetter’s nightmare. I might be wrong, but one suspects the author was allowed to typeset the book himself...

Bottom line: it takes way too long to find what one’s looking for. In a reference work such flaws are unacceptable.

I still enjoy the book’s excellent coverage of the subject matter, but its use is bound with much bickering and swearing out lound.

Great material, awful presentation
The author is one of the great xslt scholars, and this book is a brillant testimony to the breadth of his knowledge.

The author is a professional, Wrox is a professional publisher. Then how come the book is so utterly poorly organized? Any book bearing the subtitle "Programmer’s Reference" should be organized in such a way that the programmer will rapidly find what she’s looking for. Thats is certainly not the case here. An intelligent use of page headers and footers is the first thing a reference book should try to achieve. No such attempt here (try to imagine a dictionnary with no page headers...).

The same goes for the use of titles and subtitles, general chapter and page organisation, font choices etc. The whole thing is a typesetter’s nightmare. I might be wrong, but one suspects the author was allowed to typeset the book himself...

Bottom line: it takes way too long to find what one’s looking for. In a reference work such flaws are unacceptable.

I still enjoy the book’s excellent coverage of the subject matter, but its use is bound with much bickering and swearing out lound.

Some of the poorest instructional writing I have ever seen...
I was extremely disappointed after trying to read this and several other of these WROX series on XML, XSLT, XPATH, etc.. I had made the mistake of buying the whole series and trying to wade through these exceptionally poorly edited books. While I’m sure that these writers know their subject...they truely do NOT have a clue as to how to write cohesive, instructional material. If you want to find much better writing on this subject, look for some zoo animals on the cover instead of photos of the authors. I really felt cheated having bought the whole series of these WROX books. This is the first time that I have felt this enraged about poor writing...

The Master
Michael Kay is to XSLT what Hank Williams is to Country, what Doc Watson is to Traditional, and what Eric Clapton is to rock guitar.

The reviewer below states:

> Horrible, horrible usability.

Huh? I have used the original version of this book from when I was an XSLT newbie until it is literally falling apart, and have always found it to be extremely usable. XSLT can be difficult to master - things that seem "logical" are completely wrong, but it is also the best way to interact with XML. Forget about procedural or even OOP languages when you have XML data to deal with. XSL transforms are the way to go, and Michael explains how to do everything here - except XPATH, but I’ll probably order the package with his XPATH book, too.

Great Reference, Mediocre Introduction
In looking at the other reviews, I have to wonder if some of these people even read the book.

There IS a reference section. Chapter 5 goes through a ton of XSLT elements in alphabetical order and lists what it does and how to use it. It ALSO lists the changes that were made to the element since XSLT 1.0. Chapter 7 does the same thing with the functions.

However, I’m in agreement that this isn’t the best book for learning the language. The learning curve is steep. Very steep. However, if you get through it, you’ll be ready for almost anything thrown at you (but also get the XPath 2.0 book, to make sure you’re an expert).

In short, it’s not perfect, but it’s a great reference, which is exactly what it sets out to be.

Critically flawed, but brilliant
I actually read most of the first edition of this book and upgraded to this book to stay current. It has two critical flaws:

1) It lacks any "New in 2.0" labels. Given the scope and mass of the book, having to reread the whole thing to find the deltas between versions 1 and 2 is criminal.

2) Horrible, horrible usability.

If you didn’t read the first edition, then the content is worth overcoming the hurdles. If you own the first edition, you’re better off keeping it, and finding some other book to highlight what changed in version 2.0.

Reference only - Consider ONLY if already good at XSLT
The style of writing in this book makes it rather awkward for learning. Perhaps this is okay for a guru in XSLT, but I’m finding the book difficult to follow and more difficult to use.

The XSLT book
The buyrer should be aware the XSLT 2.0 runs only on the authors parser. However, this book is the one to buy. Each chapter/command starts with "Whats new in 2.0" so you get two in one. I had no previous XSLT knowledge and this book is a complete refernce, with carefully chosen examples. Its the book every serious XML programmer should have.

Can’t lookup things; It ain’t a reference
C’mon, if you can’t lookup information in a reference book, then it is not a reference. Thus, it is not any good. Don’t give something 3 stars if it is a failure!
This book is practically unusable as a reference book. Its predecessor, covering version 1.0, has great page labels and CAN be used as a reference. Of course, the index still stinks and thus it deserves your 3 stars.
I bought this book expecting the same page labelling as the 1.0 reference. It is criminal how poorly labelled the pages of this 2.0 book are.
Also, this 2.0 book requires the XPATH 2.0 book, also called a "reference" book and fails similarly.
Basically, do not buy Kay’s 2.0 books.