Processing XML with Java™: A Guide to SAX, DOM, JDOM, JAXP, and TrAX

Choosing between SAX and DOM

The single biggest factor in deciding whether to code your programs with SAX or with DOM is personal preference. SAX and DOM are very different APIs. Whereas SAX models the parser, DOM models the XML document. Most developers find the DOM approach more to their taste, at least initially. Its pull model (in which the client program extracts the information it wants from a document by invoking various methods on that document) is much more familiar than SAX's push model (in which the parser tells you what it reads when it reads it, whether you're ready for that information or not).

However, SAX's push model, unfamiliar as it is, can be much more efficient. SAX programs can be much faster than their DOM equivalents, ...