Much can be accomplished with on-the-fly generation of HTML (see http://docs.sun.com) but it is not the answer for publishing in the general case. A real XML+XSL solution would provide:

• Media-independent publishing
• Independence from particular HTML implementations
• Delivery of the same source to multiple users
• Fewer round trips to the server
• Quality formatting
  • The idea that online formatting requirements are a subset of print formatting requirements is a short-term historical accident
  • In the long run, online requirements are a superset of print requirements

XML & JAVA:   PORTABLE DATA — PORTABLE PROGRAMS