There are two programming models for working with XML infosets: streaming and the document object model (DOM).

Streaming models for XML processing are particularly useful when your application has strict memory limitations, as with a cellphone running the Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME platform), or when your application needs to process several requests simultaneously, as with an application server. In fact, it can be argued that the majority of XML business logic can benefit from stream processing, and does not require the in-memory maintenance of entire DOM trees.