Client-side XSLT

Question

I converted my whole site to XML/XSL and I would like to know all of the current issues with performing Client-side XSLT.

Here are the ones i already know of (from first

Answer 1

i have worked about 1 year at a project where we used xslt+xml-> html (although server-side only)

the major drawback i encountered: there are no good tools for xslt generation which lean towards web developement. no previewing of html. no validation. the resulting xslt was a total mess noone could understand. that was not so much the xslt designers fault, but rather results from the xslt processing model.

the layering between xslt/xml/urls becomes more complicated than it should be. there is no way you could program component-oriented.

often multiple xslt files were needed, this would lead to many downloads on the client-side. otherwise it would lead to massive code duplication thoughout the project.

i would see this as a form of early optimisation. you shoud start by using a "normal" web framework like wicket, jsf, tapestry, gwt etc.., later if it turns out your servers preformance is cpu-bound you might ocnsider rewriting the most often used parts of the apllication that way.

otoh, it has real benefits if you need to provide both an xml api + a html interface.