XML DOM

The DOM (Document Object Model) defines a standard way for accessing and manipulating documents.

The XML DOM

The XML DOM (XML Document Object Model) defines a standard way for accessing and manipulating XML documents.

The DOM views XML documents as a tree-structure. All elements can be accessed through the DOM tree. Their content (text and attributes) can be modified or deleted, and new elements can be created. The elements, their text, and their attributes are all known as nodes.

What is the DOM?

The DOM is a W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) standard.

The DOM defines a standard for accessing documents like XML and HTML:

"The W3C Document Object Model (DOM) is a platform and language-neutral interface that allows programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content, structure, and style of a document."

The DOM is separated into 3 different parts / levels:

Core DOM - standard model for any structured document
XML DOM - standard model for XML documents
HTML DOM - standard model for HTML documents
The DOM defines the objects and properties of all document elements, and the methods (interface) to access them.

What is the HTML DOM?

The HTML DOM defines the objects and properties of all HTML elements, and the methods (interface) to access them.

What is the XML DOM?
The XML DOM is:

A standard object model for XML
A standard programming interface for XML
Platform- and language-independent
A W3C standard
The XML DOM defines the objects and properties of all XML elements, and the methods (interface) to access them.

In other words:

The XML DOM is a standard for how to get, change, add, or delete XML elements.

DOM Nodes
According to the DOM, everything in an XML document is a node.

The DOM says:

The entire document is a document node
Every XML element is an element node
The text in the XML elements are text nodes
Every attribute is an attribute node
Comments are comment nodes