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## Java API for XML Parsing
Release: 1.0.1

This library provides core functionality necessary in most Java™ based applications of the Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0.

See:
Description

Parsing
javax.xml.parsers | Provides classes allowing the processing of XML documents.
org.xml.sax | SAX (Simple API to XML) is an event-driven parser API, which supports most of the widely available XML parsers.
org.xml.sax.helpers | This package contains simple "helper" classes which can help programmers get started using the SAX APIs.

Object Model
org.w3c.dom | The Document Object Model (DOM™) is a Recommendation of the World Wide Web Consortium, defining programming interfaces for XML (and, optionally, HTML) documents.

This library provides core functionality necessary in most Java™ based applications of the Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0.

### XML Platform Structure

This library corresponds to the core part of an XML based application framework. On that core can be built services and applications. These are briefly presented here to help developers understand the intended role of this library.

#### Core

Core functionality includes pluggability of parsers, parsing XML documents (including optional validation) and constructing in-memory tree structured object models of such documents.

Both the parsing and object model APIs have an API structure consisting of an interface (currently SAX 1.0 and the DOM Level 1 core, respectively) and the JAXP APIs have an API structure consisting of abstract classes providing a thin layer for pluggability of parsers.The reference implementation of the above packages is currently in the com.sun.xml.* portion of the Java package namespace.

#### Services

A variety of facilities can be built on top of core APIs, but are sufficiently specialized that not all environments supporting XML would require them. (Some services might eventually move into the core.)

For example, Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) provides a way to translate XML into other XML structures, including ones which are legal HTML or which use "flow objects" to support publication quality rendering. (HTML can not support that quality of document rendering.) A package supporting the transformation parts of XSL could be useful in many environments, including XML document servers. A package supporting "flow/formmating" objects from the XSL specification would be useful where high quality rendering was needed, including publishing applications with "what you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG) editing. Some services such as WebDAV might use XML internally, and not expose it.

Other examples of XML-based services include support for XML based linking (XPointer/XLink), a variety of services supporting integration with relational or object databases, specialized vertical market toolsets, and messaging frameworks. Messaging frameworks could include support for XML-based data marshaling, asynchronous messaging systems such as the Java Messaging Service (JMS), and synchronous messaging systems (categorized as "Remote Procedure Calls", RPCs) including those constructed directly on top of HTTP/HTTPS messaging.

#### Applications

Applications build on the core, often building on higher level services. Two broad categories of particular interest include web-based information publishing systems, and business-to-business electronic commerce frameworks bringing older Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) technology into the Internet in applications such as supply chain integration.

Applications may have server side components, client side ones, or both. Web based server side components will often be built using Java Servlets or JavaServer Pages.

Another category of applications is developer tools, perhaps supporting database integration or providing a better coupling between object level modeling (e.g., with UML) and XML DTDs/Schemas.

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