This compact, relevant, updated version reflects recent changes in the XSLT specification and developments in XSLT parsers. The material on tools and implementations has been revised; so too have all the examples. It also includes a new chapter on writing extension functions.

XML has firmly established itself as the universal standard for managing data for the web and is now being implemented on a wide scale.

XSL (eXtensible Stylesheet Language), a vital companion to XML, is used for two main purposes: to format or style XML data so that it can be displayed in a browser and to transform XML data (XSLT). When you transform an XML document, you manipulate the data into a new structure, for example, re-ordering the data. This enables the same data store to be used in an unlimited number of ways. XSLT is a flexible, customizable, and cross-platform language.

XSLT is a notoriously difficult language to understand, but this book, while being a complete reference to the recommendation, will also give code examples showing how it all ties together and can be effectively employed in a real-world development scenario.

I've written this book for practising software developers who have used a variety of languages in the past and now want to learn how to use XSLT to create new applications. I'm assuming you will have a basic understanding of XML, though I do recognize that if you ever knew what an external general parsed entity is, you've probably forgotten. I'm also assuming a basic understanding of the architecture of the web and of HTML.

I'm not assuming you are familiar with any particular programming language, though I have written on the basis that you have programming experience. If all the programming you've done is to write HTML pages with a little bit of Javascript, you might find some of the material tough going.