rapid-xml-to-js

rapid-xml-to-js is a fast, lightweight XML parser designed for simple hierarchical XML data.

Features

This library is built for performance and simplicity. Below is a summary of what it can and cannot do:

✅ Features

• Parses well-formed XML into a nested JavaScript object.
• Handles basic XML structures with child elements.
• Sets attributes on elements ($attrs)
• Supports CDATA sections.
• Skips comments, processing instructions (<?...?>), and <!DOCTYPE> declarations.

❌ Limitations

• Does not handle mixed content (text between and around child elements). (To be implemented)
• Does not validate XML (assumes input is well-formed).

Installation

You can install the library via npm:

npm install rapid-xml-to-js

Usage

Here’s how you can use rapid-xml-to-jsn:

import { xlmToJs } from 'rapid-xml-to-js';

const xml = `
<root>
  <item>
    <![CDATA[Some content here]]>
  </item>
  <item>
    <subitem>Another piece of content</subitem>
  </item>
</root>
`;

const parsed = xmlToJs(xml);

console.log(parsed);
// Output:
// {
//   root: {
//     item: [
//       "Some content here",
//       { subitem: "Another piece of content" }
//     ]
//   }
// }

Performance

rapid-xml-to-js is optimized for speed and low memory usage, skipping some XML features to avoid overhead.

API

xmlToJs(xml: string): object

Parses a well-formed XML string into a JavaScript object.

Parameters

• xml (string): The well-formed XML string to parse.

Returns

• A nested JavaScript object representing the XML structure.

Benchmarks

Credits to fast-xml-parser for the XML documents and benchmark code.

Navigate to benchmarks folder.

Run command npm install

Comment in the XML document path to use

Run command npm run test

Results

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9900X @ 4.4 GHz

RAM: 2x32GB DDR5-6000MHz

OS: Windows 11 Home 64-bit

Runtime: Node.js

Benchmark tool: Benchmark.js

ptest.xml

Tiny XML file with attributes, CDATA and nesting

Library	Requests/second
fast-xml-parser	76 833
fast-xml-parser - preserve order	81 940
xmlbuilder2	33 847
xml2js	36 126
txml	456 226
rapid-xml-to-js	593 815

sample.xml

Small sample XML file at 1.5KB

Library	Requests/second
fast-xml-parser	20 676
fast-xml-parser - preserve order	22 492
xmlbuilder2	15 123
xml2js	16 361
txml	158 576
rapid-xml-to-js	201 213

large.xml

Large 98MB XML file

Library	Requests/second
fast-xml-parser	0.2789
fast-xml-parser - preserve order	0.3115
xmlbuilder2	0.1648
xml2js	0.2233
txml	1.3508
rapid-xml-to-js	1.8392

Missing a library?

Create an issue or submit a PR adding the library to the benchmark-project.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you encounter any issues or have suggestions for improvement, feel free to open an issue or a pull request.

License

This library is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more information.