XSL is a specific language that is utilized for XML. XSL means extensible stylesheet language, and XML is extensible markup language. XSL is a type of application that is used to transpose one document to another. Through the use of XSL, one can transfer the data, and language, of one document (usually XML) to another document while still preserving the validity and nature of the first document.

While confusing at first, XSL transformations are really quite simple. If used in conjunction with an XSL editor, the process becomes even more simplified. Basically, XSL reads the data that has been input and formatted into a document. It then reformats the information and translates the original document into an entirely new document. The formatting will show how the new document will appear once it has been posted to the web.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has recommended that instead of XSL, the individual utilize XSLT to post documents to the web. XSLT is just an enhanced version of XSL. XSLT also will show how the original XML document has been reformatted to be another, entirely independent document.

XML data combined with XSL transformation allows you to present what you want, how you want, in any format you choose. Sometimes the formatting of the original document does not meet the requirements of another format, and will not translate. The XSL will reformat said data, and transpose it in an available form. This coupled with an XSL editor will assure that every document is of superior quality.

You may wonder why an editor is necessary. The XSL editor has the ability to edit any source code. This means that the user will be able to alter data to meet their own needs. Simple editors like Notepad will do this as well, but they do not have all the advanced capabilities of the XSL editor. The XSL version assures that every document will be error free. It adheres to a validated XML structure and color codes the syntax.

XSL is both a transforming and a formatting language. Each of these functions can operate individually, or in conjunction with one another. The actual coding for XSL is referred to as the stylesheet. This stylesheet can be used along with the XSLT stylesheet, or they can be operated separately in the transferrence of XML data from one document to another.

XSLT is the description of how the data structure of the original document, or source tree, is metamorphosized into the new document, or result tree. Trees are the structure of the data in XML documents. If the tree is well formed, it is connected to what is called nodes. Nodes are essentially the beginning of the data (or root), and the interconnected data of the document (or child nodes).

The document itself is the root. The elements, attributes, namespaces, processing instructions, comments, and parsed character data are all the nodes found in the XML document. XSL, XSLT, and the XSL editor transforms these documents with ease.