I want to parse a large XML file and I have two options: Perl or PHP. Being new to both languages what would be your suggestion about language of choice for parsing a large XML file?
And what modules are more appropriate for the task at hand?
+1
A:
PHP has a built in function called simplexml which makes it very easy to handle XML files.
Patrick
2009-10-26 19:28:53
He says "large" and simple XML loads the whole stucture in memory...
danieltalsky
2009-10-26 19:40:59
Good thing nobody listened to Bill Gates about ram huh?
Patrick
2009-10-26 19:57:39
Patrick, ever loaded 1Gig file into DOM in an interpreted language? I did. NOT pretty.
DVK
2009-10-26 20:02:55
A:
Just off the cuff - I have no knowledge of the specific XML parsing capabilities of either language - I would say if it's parsing, go Perl. Perl's regular expression support is excellent and makes it the language of choice when there is parsing to be done. Your mileage may vary.
Daniel Bingham
2009-10-26 19:29:23
+4
A:
XML is usually parsed in one of two modes: stream or DOM. DOM is convenient, but unsuitable for large files. XML::Twig from CPAN has mixed mode, which has advantages of both modes.
Alexandr Ciornii
2009-10-26 19:34:40
+7
A:
Use the language that you are most comfortable with.
If you decide to use Perl, please refer back to the "parsing XML using Perl"-questions you asked recently:
- What is the best tool for parsing XML and storing data in a database?
- How to read data from an XML file and store it into database(MySQL) ?
- What is the best way to validate XML against XML Schema, parsing it and storing data back to MySQL Database using Perl ?
- What would be your choice of XML Parsers in Perl for parsing > 15 GB Files ?
innaM
2009-10-26 19:41:04
This is the only correct answer. Both languages have highly-developed XML parsing utilities, so which is "best" depends on other factors.
Ether
2009-10-26 19:43:09