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Asked: 2026-05-14T00:42:23+00:00

Example XML using element nodes: <?xml version=1.0 encoding=utf-8?> <users> <user> <name>David Smith</name> <phone>0441 234443</phone>

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Example XML using element nodes:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<users>
  <user>
    <name>David Smith</name>
    <phone>0441 234443</phone>
    <email>dave.s33@domain.com</email>
    <addresses>
      <address>
        <street>1 Some Street</street>
        <town>Toy Town</town>
        <country>UK</country>
      </address>
      <address>
        <street>5 New Street</street>
        <town>Lego City</town>
        <country>US</country>
      </address>
    </addresses>
  </user>
</users>

Example XML using attributes:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<users>
  <user name="David Smith" phone="0441 234443" email="dave.s33@domain.com">
    <addresses>
      <address street="1 Some Street" town="Toy Town" country="UK" />
      <address street="5 New Street" town="Lego City" country="US" />
    </addresses>
  </user>
</users>

I’m needing to build an XML file based on data from a relational database and can’t work out whether I should use attributes or elements.

What is best practice when building XML files and why?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    One of the better articles I’ve read is “Principles of XML design: When to use elements versus attributes“, which doesn’t attempt to give you an outright answer but does give some good food for thought along with examples.

    I would suggest that the advice in the article leans toward your first design; you may be interested to read the part about representing names though.

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