JDOM tutorial : Introduction

JDOM is an open source API designed to represent an XML document and its contents to the typical Java developer in an intuitive and straightforward way. As the name indicates, JDOM is Java optimized. It behaves like Java, it uses Java collections, and it provides a low-cost entry point for using XML. JDOM users don't need to have tremendous expertise in XML to be productive and get their jobs done.
JDOM interoperates well with existing standards such as the Simple API for XML (SAX) and the Document Object Model (DOM). However, it's more than a simple abstraction above those APIs. JDOM takes the best concepts from existing APIs and creates a new set of classes and interfaces that provide, in the words of one JDOM user, "the interface I expected when I first looked at org.w3c.dom." JDOM can read from existing DOM and SAX sources, and can output to DOM- and SAX-receiving components. That ability enables JDOM to interoperate seamlessly with existing program components built against SAX or DOM.
JDOM has been made available under an Apache-style, open source license. That license is among the least restrictive software licenses available, enabling developers to use JDOM in creating products without requiring them to release their own products as open source. It is the license model used by the Apache Project, which created the Apache server. In addition to making the software free, being open source enables the API to take contributions from some of the best Java and XML minds in the industry and to adapt quickly to new standards as they evolve.
History of JDOM
The JDOM API was developed by Jason Hunter and Brett McLaughlin in March 2000. Now it is being maintained by the http://www.jdom.org/. You can download the latest version of JDOM libraries and source file from its official website at http://www.jdom.org/.
The JDOM api was developed to provides fast and robust api for processing xml documents. The JDOM API is designed specifically for Java platform, making it more useful. It uses the built-in String support of the Java language. It also makes use of Java 2 collection classes wherever possible. So, JDOM API gives good performance.
Downloading JDOM API
The JDOM API is distributed from it official website at http://www.jdom.org/. You can get the latest source and binary version from http://www.jdom.org/.
The current version of JDOM is 1.1.1, which can be downloaded from http://www.jdom.org/downloads/source.html