libxml2-wasm

Why another xml lib?

Comparing to the previous two main approaches, pure javascript implementation as well as traditional C implementation binding, using WebAssembly combines the pros from both sides, providing good performance while keeping best compatibility with modern Javascript runtime.

| | Javascript Implementation | Traditional C Binding | WebAssembly | |-|:---:|:---:|:---:| | Parsing Speed[^1] | Average | Fast | Fast | | C/C++ Toolchain | Not required | Required[^2] | Not Required | | Prebuilt Binaries | N/A | One for each OS/Runtime version | Universal for all OS/Runtime versions | | Prebuilt Binary Compatibility | N/A | May broke across libc versions | Very Good | | Browser Compatibility | Yes | No | Yes |

Documentation

https://jameslan.github.io/libxml2-wasm/index.html

Supported Environments

Due to the usage of WebAssembly, ES module and top level await etc, it requires the minimum version of the following environments,

| Environment |Version| |:-----------:|:---:| | Node.js |v16+| | Chrome |V89+| | Edge |V89+| | Safari |v15+|

Features

• Parsing
• Validating
• XInclude and XSD include/import (experimental)

Getting started

Install libxml2-wasm package:

npm i libxml2-wasm

libxml2-wasm is an ES module, importing it are different between ES module and commonJS module.

ESM

Import it directly.

import fs from 'node:fs';
import { XmlDocument } from 'libxml2-wasm';
const doc1 = XmlDocument.fromString('<note><to>Tove</to></note>');
const doc2 = XmlDocument.fromBuffer(fs.readFileSync('doc.xml'));
doc1.dispose();
doc2.dispose();

CommonJS

Dynamic import is needed:

const fs = require('node:fs');
import('libxml2-wasm').then(({ XmlDocument }) => {
    const doc1 = XmlDocument.fromString('<note><to>Tove</to></note>');
    const doc2 = XmlDocument.fromBuffer(fs.readFileSync('doc.xml'));
    doc1.dispose();
    doc2.dispose();
});

IMPORTANT: dispose() is required to avoid memory leak.

For more detail, see the Doc.

[^1]: The speed of different libraries varies a lot, see benchmark. [^2]: The requirement of C/C++ toolchain may be waived if prebuilt binary is available.