Item 29: Always use a parser

• Can’t use regular expressions:

  • Detecting encoding
  • Comments and processing instructions that contain tags
  • CDATA sections
  • Unexpected placement of spaces and line breaks within tags
  • Default attribute values
  • Character and entity references
  • Malformed documents
  • Internal DTD Subset

• Why not?

  • Unfamiliarity with parsers
  • Too slow