Java and XSLT

Aimed at the Java developer who wants to learn XSLT quickly, Java and XSLT provides an in-depth guide to using XML to transform data in a variety of Web applications. With a no-nonsense presentation style and plenty of expert tips, this tutorial will let experienced developers master XSLT (and related standards) to create more flexible Web applications.

This text distinguishes itself with a fast-moving tutorial that covers XSLT from the ground up without getting bogged down in fast-changing XML standards, as is the case sometimes with other similar books. Combined with XML parsers (available in Sun's JAXP 1.1 APIs), Java is ready to go to solve real-world problems with XSLT. The author shows you how to apply XSLT to real problems, as well as integrating XSLT into your Web architecture. Early sections of the book show how XSLT can be used to separate presentation logic from business logic.

The first sections provide the basics of XSLT syntax, then the book moves on to more advanced searching and looping techniques. (Without traditional `state` or variables, XSLT requires a different way of thinking. This book does a good job of showing what's different in XSLT and techniques that can do more within real applications.)

This text's developer focus shows up early on, with a sample of XSLT used with Apache's Ant build utility. Later samples are more applicable to general Web development. A sample online discussion board built with servlets and XSLT style sheets shows off the fundamentals at work. With good coverage of Sun's JAXP 1.1 APIs for working with XML in Java, this book anchors its samples in real Java tools. A final section on wireless interfaces introduces the advantages of XSLT for transforming online content into WML for mobile devices.

Now that XSLT is a mainstream technology, more and more Java programmers will want to use it in real projects. Beyond syntax, this title shows you how to use XSLT to transform server-side data into client-side interfaces more flexibly. The practical focus of Java and XSLT is all you need to combine these two powerful technologies to create more maintainable Web applications that can reach both desktop and mobile browsers. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Introduction to XSLT; XML review; transforming data with XSLT; XPath; looping and sorting; conditional processing; formatting text and numbers; an XSLT example with the Ant build utility; review of Web architectures (including XSLT used with EJBs); compiling style sheets with JAXP 1.1; basic servlet tutorial (servlets used with XSLT); sample online discussion forum (with XSLT); advanced XSLT techniques (including session tracking without cookies, servlet filters, internationalization); tips for XSLT developers (developing, testing and debugging, performance tips); building wireless Web applications with WML and XSLT; JAXP 1.1 API reference; and XSLT quick reference.

User review
Great combination to Java and XML book.
This is a very good compliment to the O'Reilly Java and XML book. It gives a good combination of theory and practical application. It also serves as a good quick reference if you need to deal a good deal with Java and XSLT. May not be the book for you if you are trying to learn XSLT, but does a good job of showing how Java fits into the world of XSLT.

User review
Very helpful introduction to XSLT in Java
I found this book to be a very helpful introduction to the use of XSLT in Java. The text is well written and easy to follow, with examples that truly illuminate the concepts being demonstrated. While other reviewers have found the author's focus on transformations from XML to HTML to be a limitation, I found that this approach helped me focus on XSLT concepts without getting bogged down in discussions of other languages simply for the purpose of illustration.

I found the first chapter synopsis of XML in Java to be very helpful in navigating my way through the `alphabet soup` of SAX, JAXP, DOM, JDOM, etc. I also appreciated that the book did not devote substantial space to reference information, which quickly becomes dated and is more easily searched online.

User review
Very cool book that dvelves deep into using XSLT with Java
I am very much impressed with the content of the book and the examples in particular. The book covers the breadth of using java and XSLT and also gives a nice case study using MVC architecture.



User review
Showing it's age
This book is definitely showing it's age. It covers XSLT as it was in 2001. It's all about having a flexible front-end and serving XML out as HTML and WML, or using it for internationalization. It's coverage of code generation is very, very minimal. There is also very little in the way of advice about increasing processing efficiency. There are also small mistakes; for example the misstatements about CGI and Servlets, which is a common error in Java articles and books.

That being said, the examples are well annotated and the XML is highlighted for readability. The code is loosely annotated, which is the O'Reilly style, but it still makes some of the larger code fragments had to follow.

As long as you know that this book is a little dated you will find reasonable material in here about XML, XSLT and how to get it into Java. It could use a second edition with more topical material.

User review
Not The Best Choice
This book chooses to forgoe some of the more standard tools for XSL translation that are on the market. The author instead uses alternate opensourced implementations (JDOM vs DOM). The problem with this is that in the real world, constraints often exist on your project such that you cannot use alternatives (oh no!). So instead of getting a robust book that explains how to implement DOM and translate, you get a book that wallows in the use of alternate methods and focuses on one thing: creating dynamic HTML. Honestly, this is a rahter tired subject in the XML world. I am more interested in how to translate XML to PDF or RTF or XL. I am not asking for a plain answer, but I was at least hoping for a very beginner approach.

I have spent a week trying to get an implementation going and there is so much that I do not understand. I was hoping that this book would remedy that. It, sadly, does not. The example code is too specific to really help with a real world (constrained) application (I am developing for Oracle systems and they include the standard parsers from org.wc3.dom and org.xml.sax, using others requires server updates that are not recommended). I cannot recommend other titles as I have not read many others and the ones I have read are not too helpful.

Good luck, but steer clear of this one, unless you don't mind losing fifteen dollars.