XSLT Conclusion

XSLT is a very powerful technology that is only recently finding a niche for itself. As with many new technologies, its biggest limitation is acceptance: many browsers just do not support XSLT processing, and probably will not support it within the foreseeable future.

Congratulate yourself once again for having chosen to use PHP, as the PHP support for server-side parsing is complete and very powerful. The end result of switching from client-side XSLT parsing to server-side XSLT parsing is the same as switching to PHP for form validation instead of using JavaScript: you are guaranteed 100% compatibility with all clients, as well as giving yourself the ability to add in extra functionality that would otherwise have been problematic.

Even the most basic XML implementation can provide instant return on investment, simply by making your content available in a pure format. Furthermore, you can add more powerful XSLT processing at a later date.

Perhaps the most popular use for server-side XSLT parsing is serving a particular content type (e.g.: WML for WAP phones) based upon the user agent received.

 

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