Conclusion

We covered a lot of information on parsers in this chapter. We looked at the parser's responsibility, different parsing methods, and different parsers. Although you might not be writing a parser as part of your efforts, understanding how they work and how to choose one is important. You will require a parser to properly—and by a true implementation definition, "absolutely"—implement XML solutions. The function of parsing documents, be it for making sure a document is well-formed or for schema validation, is a task you want to leave to another application. Additionally, being able to specify the method by which you have access to the document's data is an advantage and a huge step toward completing your task.

In this chapter we touched on both the DOM and SAX standards, and we will dedicate Chapter 4 to other, related standards. Many groups use XML as a means to accomplish a variety of tasks. These projects are often the same tasks you are attempting to overcome, so take the time to go over a few of them.