XSLT 2.0 shines over 1.0

I was pondering over XSLT 2.0's advantages over XSLT 1.0, and came up with a simple example that illustrates XSLT 2.0's benefits.

Below are a 1.0 and 2.0 stylesheets, for finding the 1st n fibonacci numbers (and, analysis later on):

XSLT 2.0

<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
xmlns:x="http://localhost"
version="2.0">

<xsl:output method="text" />

<xsl:param name="n" />

<xsl:template match="/">
<xsl:for-each select="1 to $n">
<xsl:value-of select="x:fibonacci(position())" /><xsl:text> </xsl:text>
</xsl:for-each>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:function name="x:fibonacci" as="xs:integer">
<xsl:param name="n" as="xs:integer" />

<xsl:sequence select="if (($n = 1) or ($n = 2)) then 1 else x:fibonacci($n - 1) + x:fibonacci($n - 2)" />
</xsl:function>

</xsl:stylesheet>

XSLT 1.0

<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
version="1.0">

<xsl:output method="text" />

<xsl:param name="n" />

<xsl:template match="/">
<xsl:call-template name="iterateAndFib">
<xsl:with-param name="x" select="1" />
</xsl:call-template>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template name="iterateAndFib">
<xsl:param name="x" />

<xsl:if test="$x <= $n">
<xsl:call-template name="fibonacci">
<xsl:with-param name="n" select="$x" />
</xsl:call-template>
<xsl:text> </xsl:text>
<xsl:call-template name="iterateAndFib">
<xsl:with-param name="x" select="$x + 1" />
</xsl:call-template>
</xsl:if>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template name="fibonacci">
<xsl:param name="n" />

<xsl:choose>
<xsl:when test="($n = 1) or ($n = 2)">
<xsl:value-of select="1" />
</xsl:when>
<xsl:otherwise>
<xsl:variable name="x">
<xsl:call-template name="fibonacci">
<xsl:with-param name="n" select="$n - 1" />
</xsl:call-template>
</xsl:variable>
<xsl:variable name="y">
<xsl:call-template name="fibonacci">
<xsl:with-param name="n" select="$n - 2" />
</xsl:call-template>
</xsl:variable>
<xsl:value-of select="$x + $y" />
</xsl:otherwise>
</xsl:choose>
</xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Why therefore I think, XSLT 2.0 is better over 1.0,

1. A 2.0 stylesheet can be written with very few lines of code as compared to 1.0 stylesheet. In this case, the 2.0 stylesheet is of 22 lines, and the 1.0 stylesheet is of 51 lines (considering normal indentation markers in code).

2. In a 2.0 stylesheet, there is no need of recursion to iterate. The for-each loop natively supports iteration in a numerical range.

3. In the 2.0 stylesheet, we can utilize the xsl:function construct to write shorter code, which is better logically understood. The recursive calls in xsl:function in this example are easy to understand.

In a 1.0 stylesheet, we need to write named template to achieve recursive calls, which can get cumbersome if logic is complex.

4. In XSLT 2.0, the data model type system has lot more data types, than 1.0 (All built-in XML Schema types, as well user defined types can be used in XSLT 2.0 stylesheets).

I have no doubt, XSLT 2.0 shines over XSLT 1.0.

I read Norman Walsh expressing following thoughts on his blog post, "Every experience that I have with XSLT 2.0 increases my enthusiasm for it.". I totally agree with Norm.