The power of XSLT is its ability to change the structure or format of any content that can be converted to XML. Java and XSLT shows you how to use XSL transformations in Java programs ranging from stand-alone applications to servlets. After an introduction to XSLT, the book focuses on applying transformations in some real-world scenarios, such as developing a discussion forum, transforming documents from one form to another, and generating content for wireless devices. Java and XSLT discusses several common XSLT processors and the TRAX API, paying special attention to performance issues. Although there's a brief tutorial introduction to the XSLT language, the primary focus of the book isn't on learning XSLT or developing stylesheets; it's on making practical use of transformations in Java code. The book covers:

• Introduction and Technology Review

• XSLT--The Basics

• XSLT--Beyond The Basics

• Java Web Architecture

• Programmatic Interfaces to XSLT Processors

• Using XSLT with Servlets

• Discussion Forum Implementation

• Advanced XSLT Web Techniques

• Testing, Tuning and Development Environments

• WAP and WML

• XSLT and Wireless Examples

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 11 Ratings

Showing it's age - 2004-03-07
Reviewer Rating:
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.

Great combination to Java and XML book. - 2006-03-06
Reviewer Rating:
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.

Very helpful introduction to XSLT in Java - 2005-07-31
Reviewer Rating:
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.

Very cool book that dvelves deep into using XSLT with Java - 2004-10-18
Reviewer Rating:
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.

Not The Best Choice - 2004-02-02
Reviewer Rating:
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.

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