When I ran across it in XSL, two words came to mind : 'scope creep'.
I don't know the history of XSL, but that couldn't be what people were
thinking in the beginning.
geir
Jon Stevens wrote:
>
> This is such a great discussion, I just had to open it up to a more general
> group.
>
> The Ant group is discussing the fact that putting conditional statements
> into XML is a terrible idea, yet JSP/Struts is doing exactly that with
> taglibs.
>
> Am I the only one who sees the disconnect here?
>
> <http://jakarta.apache.org/struts/struts-logic.html>
>
> -jon
>
> ------ Forwarded Message
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 16:27:25 -0700
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: RE: if and unless attributes for all Tasks
>
> >Build scripting is all ABOUT conditional processing -
> >i.e. "if source file A is newer than object file B,
> >compile source file A."
>
> >This low-level conditional checking is built into Ant
> >(and make) so that you don't have to see it - and that
> >is the primary advantage of build tools over scripting
> >tools - it simplifies the required instruction set.
>
> >This does not, however, eliminate the need for
> >conditionals at a higher level of abstraction. Also,
> >I have several times had to use the uptodate task
> >paired with the if/unless conditions to achieve checks
> >that are *not* built into Ant - and this is
> >conceptually at the *same* level of abstraction of the
> >.java/.class checks.
>
> I think what Jesse was saying (At least, what I so strongly agreed with)
> is that XML is not a good language for doing if/checks and what not. If
> you
> need to do logic, even simple logic, you're better off to write a task in
> Java and have
> all of the power that a real procedural/OO language can give you or use
> different build scripts.
>
> Instead, we should keep ANT in a make style of dependencies and make things
> as simple and approachable as
> possible. ANT dependencies are hard enough to wade through if you're new
> to a large build.xml. As you add
> more and more control structures, ANT becomes decreasingly accessible and
> then losses what I consider to be
> a big part of it's value.
>
> Jason Henriksen
>
> ------ End of Forwarded Message
>
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--
Geir Magnusson Jr. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
System and Software Consulting
Developing for the web? See http://jakarta.apache.org/velocity/
"still climbing up to the shoulders..."
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