Introduction
This chapter, describes Spring’s Object-XML Mapping support. Object-XML Mapping (O-X mapping for short) is the act of converting an XML document to and from an object. This conversion process is also known as XML Marshalling, or XML Serialization. This chapter uses these terms interchangeably.
Within the field of O-X mapping, a marshaller is responsible for serializing an object (graph) to XML. In similar fashion, an unmarshaller deserializes the XML to an object graph. This XML can take the form of a DOM document, an input or output stream, or a SAX handler.
Some of the benefits of using Spring for your O/X mapping needs are:
Ease of configuration
Spring’s bean factory makes it easy to configure marshallers, without needing to construct JAXB context, JiBX binding factories, and so on. You can configure the marshallers as you would any other bean in your application context. Additionally, XML namespace-based configuration is available for a number of marshallers, making the configuration even simpler.
Consistent Interfaces
Spring’s O-X mapping operates through two global interfaces: Marshaller and
Unmarshaller. These abstractions let you switch O-X mapping frameworks
with relative ease, with little or no change required on the classes that do the
marshalling. This approach has the additional benefit of making it possible to do XML
marshalling with a mix-and-match approach (for example, some marshalling performed using JAXB
and some by XStream) in a non-intrusive fashion, letting you use the strength of each
technology.