Choosing between SAX & DOM & StringBuffer class for writing XML

Question

Hii Javaties
I need to create a XML document from a swing application.
I need to store this xml in a file.
For writing XML which parser should i use SAX or DOM or should i go for StringBuffer class.

Answer 1

I'm not aware of a way to use SAX to create an XML document. It is used to view the contents of an existing XML document or data that is well-structured.
That leaves you with a choice of DOM or StringBuffer. We cannot tell enought about what you are doing to know which is better. Each has some advantages and disadvantages.
StringBuffer:
+ less overhead
- no assistance in ensuring the validity of the result
+ greater control over layout of resulting document (how and when to indent)
- any control over layout must be done by you.
DOM (although this task is easier in JDOM)
- more overhead
- some learning curve
+ result is guaranteed to be valid XML.
+ there are pretty formatters to generate good looking results
- there may be layout choices that the standard pretty formatters cannot do
As an example, consider this part of the Document being created.
You want <name>John Doe</name>
With a StringBuffer, you can just add these pieces. With DOM, you need to:
1) create an Element named "name".
2) create a Text object with a value of "John Doe".
3) add the Text object as a child of the Element
4) add the Element to the parent
Having done the DOM version (also a JDOM version) several times, I have developed an XMLHelper class that has several static methods to make simple, common constructs.
It lets me do things like:
parent.addChild( XmlHelper.makeElement( "name", customerName ) );
So, the answer to your question is the same as many other questions: It depends.
Dave Patterson