xpath 2.0 for java possible

Question

What package shall I use for XPath? I want wo query for elements and then extract some values around these nodes. Maybe one or more levels higher, some attributes.

javax.xml.xpath is XPath 1.0. Is javax.xml.xpath and org.w3c.dom the right way to go, or are there more modern implementations? org.w3c.dom is very awkward, JDOM seems alot easier.

Solution

You may consider a Java-based XPath 2.0 or XQuery implementation (the XSLT 2.0 choice provides much more powerful functionality), such as Saxon 9.x.

Saxon is open source and one of the highest quality java-based processor so far and I am using it on a daily basis when answering SO XSLT/XPath/XQuery questions. In the documentation you will find good code examples.

The only stand-alone XPath 2.0 implementation I am aware of is PsychoPath, but I am not sure of its quality and usability.

Comments

[Igor G.]

Has anything changed, are there any other alternatives? Struggling to find anything on the topic.

[Dimitre Novatchev]

@IgorG. I am not aware of any new players in this field. There is now XPath 3.0 and 3.1, but these are usually encorporated in XSLT or XQuery processors, such as Saxon, BaseX, Marklogic, etc. It would be good to have a standalone XPath 3 processor.