A Guide to XML in Java

1. Overview

This is a guide to working with XML in Java.

We'll go over the most common Java XML processing libraries – for both parsing and binding.

2. DOM Parsers

Simply put, a DOM parser works on the entire XML document, loads it into memory and constructs a tree representation of the document.

2.1. Useful Resources

• Working with XML Files in Java Using DOM Parsing
• Write an org.w3.dom.Document to a File
• Pretty-Print XML in Java
• Intro to XPath with Java
• Modifying an XML Attribute in Java using dom4j

3. SAX Parser

A SAX parser is an event-based parser – it parses the XML document using callbacks without loading the whole document into memory.

3.1. Useful Resources

• Parsing an XML File Using SAX Parser

4. StAX Parser

A StAX Parser is median between DOM and SAX parser.

4.1. Useful Resources

• Parsing an XML File Using StAX
• Convert XML to HTML using StAX

5. JAXB

JAXB – Java Architecture for XML Binding – is used to convert objects from/to XML.

JAXB is a part of the Java SE platform and one of the APIs in Jakarta EE.

5.1. Useful Resources

• Guide to JAXB
• Unmarshalling Dates Using JAXB
• Oracle JAXB Tutorial

6. XStream

XStream is a simple library to serialize objects to/from XML.

Here's the maven dependency to use to get it into a Maven enabled project:

    com.thoughtworks.xstream
    xstream
    1.4.19

6.1. Useful Resources

• Official Website
• Github
• Javadoc
• Two Minute Tutorial
• XStream User Guide: JSON
• XStream User Guide: Converting XML to Objects
• XStream User Guide: Converting Objects to XML
• Remote Code Execution with XStream

7. Jackson XML

Jackson XML is an extension of the Jackson JSON processor for reading and writing XML encoded data.

In order to use it – here's the simple Maven dependency you'll need:

    com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat
    jackson-dataformat-xml
    ${jackson.version}

Note: Latest version of jackson-dataformat-xml right now is 2.13.2.

7.1. Useful Resources

• Official Website
• Github
• Jackson XML databind Wiki
• Jackson XML annotations
• XML Serialization and Deserialization with Jackson
• Convert XML to JSON Using Jackson

8. Apache CXF Aegis

Aegis is a data binding or a subsystem that can map between Java objects and XML documents described by XML schemas.

In order to use it you need the following dependency:

    org.apache.cxf
    cxf-rt-databinding-aegis
    ${aegis.version}

Note: Latest version of Aegis right now is 3.5.1.

8.1. Useful Resources

• Official Website
• Introduction to Apache CXF Aegis Data Binding
• Javadoc

9. JiBX

JiBX is a tool for binding XML data to Java objects. It provides solid performance compared to other common tools such as JAXB.

9.1. Useful Resources

• Official Website
• Introduction to JiBX

10. XMLUnit 2

XMLUnit 2.x is a powerful library that helps us test and verify XML content, and comes in particularly handy when we know exactly what that XML should contain.

10.1. Useful Resources

• Official Website
• Introduction To XMLUnit 2.x

11. Conclusion

This was a quick intro to the XML ecosystem in Java.

Use this as a guide to learn more about doing XML work and getting a high-level view of the Java XML landscape.

We also have a collection of articles on this topic, if you wish to see links to all our XML content in one place.