JDOM provides a means of accessing an XML document within Java through a tree structure, and in that respect is somewhat similar to the DOM. However, it was built specifically for Java (remember the discussion in on language bindings for the DOM?), so it is in many ways more intuitive to a Java developer than DOM. I'll describe these aspects of JDOM throughout this chapter; I'll also describe some specific cases in which to use SAX, DOM, or JDOM. And for the complete set of details on JDOM, you should check out the web site at . Additionally, and importantly, JDOM is an open source API. You have the ability to suggest and implement changes yourself. If you find that you like JDOM but are annoyed by one little thing, you can help investigate solutions to your problem.