XSLT: Use specific matches instead of xsl:choose

The if-then-else construct in XSLT 1.0 is "somewhat baroque", it's thus easier (and probably also faster) to use other methods to select various alternatives, for example the specific matches in the xsl:template match parameter.

In one of my recent WordProcessingML (Microsoft Word XML) XSLT projects I had to transform paragraphs with the cite style into blockquote, those with code style into pre and the rest of them into regular paragraphs. Instead of using a complex xsl:choose structure, I've defined three templates:

<xsl:template match="w:p[w:pPr/w:pStyle/@w:val = 'cite']">
  <blockquote class="{w:pPr/w:pStyle/@w:val}">
    <xsl:apply-templates />
  </blockquote>
</xsl:template>
 
<xsl:template match="w:p[w:pPr/w:pStyle/@w:val = 'code']">
  <pre class="{w:pPr/w:pStyle/@w:val}">
    <xsl:apply-templates />
  </pre>
</xsl:template>
 
<xsl:template match="w:p">
  ... regular code goes here ...
</xsl:template>