derek denny-brown wrote:
> Except that we are talking about the performance of XML parsers, and
> XML is all about string processing and Java string processing is slow.
> Java XML parsing will never be faster than a good XML parser written
> in C. There is just too much overhead, and C benefits from 'struct's,
> the lack of which hinders ones ability to write certain constructs
> efficiently in Java.
My god! Are we moving back on topic? Has this ever happened before? `-)
Even if your assertions about string processing are true, there's no
rule that says you have to use strings to write an XML processor. Off
the top of my head I can think of three XML libraries/APIs for Java that
deliberately avoid java.lang.String for some of their work.
If performance were really a concern, and String proved to be the real
bottleneck, it's entirely possible someone could write an XML API based
on bytes rather than strings. So far I don't think anyone's really had
the motivation to do so. Either it hasn't been shown that strings are
the problem, or they're not a big enough problem that anyone wants to
take the time to fix them.
--
Elliotte Rusty Harold
Java I/O 2nd Edition Just Published!
http://www.cafeaulait.org/books/javaio2/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0596527500/ref=nosim/cafeaulaitA/
