You use node.js for speed? You process XML streams? Then you want the fastest XML parser: libexpat!
A stupid speed test is supplied in bench.js. We measure how many
25-byte elements a SAX parser can process:
- node-xml (pure JavaScript): 23,000 el/s
- libxmljs (libxml2 binding): 77,000 el/s
- node-expat (libexpat binding, this): 113,000 el/s
These numbers were recorded on a Core 2 2400 MHz and may turn out to be bullshit, given my few node.js experience.
node-waf configure
node-waf build
For using the library, make sure build/default/expat.node is in
either $NODE_PATH or require.paths.
Important events emitted by a parser:
- startElement with
name, attrs - endElement with
name - text with
string
There are more. Use test.js for reference.
We don't emit an error event because libexpat doesn't use a callback
either. Instead, check that parse() returns true. A descriptive
string can be obtained via getError() to provide user feedback.
A word about special parsing of xmlns: this is not neccessary in a bare SAX parser like this, given that the DOM replacement you are using (if any) is not relevant to the parser.