Native XML in the .NET Framework

Prior to the advent of the .NET Framework, we were used to writing XML-driven Microsoft Windows applications based on the MSXML COM-based library. Unlike classes in the .NET Framework, however, MSXML is a bolted-on API that communicates with the rest of the application but does not really integrate with it. Communication entails the activity or the process of passing information to others. It is based on some set of signals that both parties understand and that encode the information being exchanged. Integration, on the other hand, means that items are combined so that they are closely linked and form one unit. This distinction is significant.

The MSXML library can be imported into your code but remains an external, self-contained black box that acts as a server component. .NET Framework applications, on the other hand, use XML classes along with other classes in the .NET Framework, resulting in a homogeneous combination of “equal-sized” pieces. As a self-contained component, the MSXML must provide itself with advanced features such as asynchronous parsing. This feature is apparently lacking in the XML classes of the .NET Framework. By integrating XML classes with other classes in the .NET Framework, however, you can easily obtain the same functionality and even gain more control over the overall process.