I think the odds of getting an incorrect answer from a mature XPATH/XSLT
processor is very tiny — especially compared to the odds of programming it
incorrectly and getting the requested XPATHs wrong. However, having once worked
on fault tolerant systems, I can say that the only way to engineer fault
tolerance is thru redundancy (*) .
So if it’s really important, I would suggest you use two completely different
implementations and compare the results. However, that still doesn’t address
misprogramming both processors, which is the more likely source of error.
(*) I usually phrase that as “redundancy, redundancy, redundancy” , referring
to the three types of redundancy.
— Steve Majewski
On Nov 15, 2019, at 4:22 PM, Michael Kay mike(_at_)saxonica(_dot_)com
<xsl-list-service(_at_)lists(_dot_)mulberrytech(_dot_)com> wrote:
Are you using XSLT/XPath in a life-critical application such as controlling
a nuclear power plant or controlling an aircraft flight system?
Another observation on this: those are the classic examples of
safety-critical systems that everyone uses. But boring administrative
systems, like one that sends letters to patients telling them when their next
cervical smear test is due, are also safety-critical. Probably more deaths
are caused by failures in that kind of system than by failures in systems
where the consequences of failure are more immediate.
WHO report 2016: "A study of reported errors from five family practices in a
high-income country found that most reports contained administrative errors
and more than three-quarters had the potential of serious harm".
So let's change the question: Are you using XSLT/XPath in a life-critical
application such as sending appointment letters to hospital patients?
Michael Kay
Saxonica
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