XML Unleashed

Comparing the Two Approaches to Parsing XML

The approach to parsing that I have described so far involves building a parse tree, which is the approach that is used in nearly all validating parsers. As you have seen, this method approaches the document as a series of interrelated objects that just happen to have textual content. In the second approach, the parser just treats the document as a flat structure or a text document.

Let's parse the same document by using both methods, and then compare the two.

Parsing a Document as a Tree

This section shows how a parser that creates a document tree might proceed. Pseudocode has been used. (Of course, the process will be a little more complex than this, but this illustrates the general principles employed.) ...