XSL (Extensible Stylesheet Language)

XSL (Extensible Stylesheet Language) is a family of languages used for transforming and rendering [[Extensible Markup Language|XML]] documents. XSL is made up of three parts: [[XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations)|XSLT (XSL Transformations)]], [[XPath]] (XML Path Language), and [[XSL-FO (Formatting Objects)|XSL-FO (XSL Formatting Objects)]].

  1. XSLT (XSL Transformations):
  2. XSLT is used for transforming XML documents into other XML documents or different formats like [[HTML]], plain text, or XSL-FO.
  3. It is the most widely used part of XSL and operates by matching template rules against XML nodes.
  4. XPath (XML Path Language):
  5. XPath is a language for navigating through elements and attributes in an XML document.
  6. It provides a way to select nodes in an XML document, which XSLT uses to define parts of the document that should be transformed.
  7. XSL-FO (XSL Formatting Objects): - XSL-FO is used for formatting XML data for output to screen, paper, or other media. It's a language for specifying the visual presentation of an XML document. - XSL-FO is often used for generating complex documents like reports, invoices, and other printed materials from XML data. - XSLT allows developers to transform XML data into different formats, making it highly useful in web development, data interchange, and application integration. With XSL-FO, XML data can be styled for printing or display, similar to how [[CSS]] is used for HTML but with more capabilities for high-quality, paginated output.

Being an XML-based technology, XSL can be used across different platforms and programming environments. XSL provides flexibility in how XML data is presented, enabling the same data to be rendered differently for various purposes or platforms.