XML - XML XSLT

XSLT stands for Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations. It is a special language used to transform XML data into a different format. For example, you can use XSLT to take XML and turn it into HTML (for displaying on a web page), plain text, or even a different XML structure.

Imagine you have an XML file that stores student information, like their names and grades. That XML by itself is just raw data, and it doesn't look very nice on a web page. XSLT lets you design a template that tells the computer how to display that XML — for example, as a table with rows for each student. So, while XML stores the data, XSLT controls how it looks or how it's used.

XSLT works by matching XML elements (like <student> or <name>) and deciding what to do with them. You can tell it: “Whenever you see a <name>, put it inside a <td> tag.” In this way, XSLT can create a full HTML page just from the XML content. This is especially useful when you want to show data from an XML file on a website or convert it into a readable report.

In simple terms, think of XML as your raw ingredients, and XSLT as your recipe. The result — whether it’s a web page, a different XML layout, or a text summary — is the final dish you want to serve. Learning XSLT helps you understand how to present data in a clean and useful way.