`xml`

The Python xml package provides tools for parsing and creating XML documents that you can use to store and transport structured data. It offers a variety of modules for different XML processing needs, such as DOM, SAX, and ElementTree.

Here’s a quick example:

Python
      
>>> import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET

>>> root = ET.fromstring("<data><item>Python</item></data>")
>>> root.tag
'data'

Key Features

Parses XML documents from strings, file, and other data sources
Supports both SAX and DOM parsing models
Allows creation and modification of XML documents
Provides an API through ElementTree for common XML tasks
Handles Unicode and namespaces in XML documents
Supports reading and writing XML in both compact and pretty-printed formats
Validates XML against DTDs or schemas—with additional modules
Integrates with other Python modules for data interchange

Frequently Used Classes and Functions

Object	Type	Description
`xml.etree.ElementTree.ElementTree`	Class	Represents the whole XML document
`xml.etree.ElementTree.Element`	Class	Represents an element in the XML document
`xml.etree.ElementTree.parse()`	Function	Parses an XML document from a file
`xml.etree.ElementTree.fromstring()`	Function	Parses an XML document from a string
`xml.etree.ElementTree.SubElement()`	Function	Creates a new subelement under a parent element
`xml.etree.ElementTree.dump()`	Function	Writes a formatted XML representation of an element or tree to standard output
`xml.etree.ElementTree.tostring()`	Function	Generates a string representation of an XML element

Examples

Create an XML document:

Python
      
        
      
    
>>> import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET

>>> root = ET.Element("data")
>>> item = ET.SubElement(root, "item")
>>> item.text = "Python"
>>> tree = ET.ElementTree(root)
>>> ET.dump(tree)
<data><item>Python</item></data>

Common Use Cases

Parsing XML configuration files
Creating XML files for data interchange
Modifying existing XML documents
Extracting specific data from XML documents
Validating XML files for correctness
Converting between XML and other formats (JSON, CSV, etc.)
Scraping and processing XML-based web data
Embedding XML in larger data processing pipelines

Real-World Example

Suppose you need to parse an XML configuration file and extract specific settings. Here’s how you could do it:

Python
      
        
      
    
>>> import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET

>>> xml_content = """
... <config>
...     <setting name="theme">dark</setting>
...     <setting name="language">en</setting>
... </config>
... """

>>> root = ET.fromstring(xml_content)
>>> settings = {child.attrib["name"]: child.text for child in root}
>>> settings
{'theme': 'dark', 'language': 'en'}

In this example, you parse an XML document and extract configuration settings into a dictionary, showcasing how to work with XML data using Python’s xml package.

Tutorial

A Roadmap to XML Parsers in Python

In this tutorial, you'll learn what XML parsers are available in Python and how to pick the right parsing model for your specific use case. You'll explore Python's built-in parsers as well as major third-party libraries.

intermediate

By Leodanis Pozo Ramos • Updated July 30, 2025

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