What you've seen regarding SAX so far is essentially the simplest way to process and parse XML. And while SAX is indeed named the Simple API for XML, it offers programmers much more than basic parsing and content handling. There is an array of settings that affect parser behavior, as well as several additional handlers for edge-case scenarios; if you need to specify exactly how strings should be interned, or what behavior should occur when a DTD declares a notation, or even differentiate between CDATA sections and regular text sections, SAX provides. In fact, you can even modify and write out XML using SAX (along with a few additional packages); SAX is a full-featured API, and this chapter will give you the lowdown on features that go beyond simple parsing.