domutils vs htmlparser2 vs css-select vs jsdom vs cheerio vs xpath
Web Scraping and DOM Manipulation Comparison
1 Year
domutilshtmlparser2css-selectjsdomcheerioxpathSimilar Packages:
What's Web Scraping and DOM Manipulation?

Web scraping and DOM manipulation libraries in JavaScript provide tools for parsing, traversing, and manipulating HTML and XML documents. These libraries enable developers to extract data from web pages, modify content, and perform tasks like automated testing or data analysis. They vary in features, performance, and API design, catering to different use cases such as server-side scraping, client-side manipulation, or working with structured data. Popular libraries include cheerio for jQuery-like manipulation, jsdom for a full DOM implementation, and htmlparser2 for fast, streaming HTML parsing.

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domutils51,117,120213167 kB57 months agoBSD-2-Clause
htmlparser240,556,5944,614489 kB207 months agoMIT
css-select38,882,722584328 kB6a month agoBSD-2-Clause
jsdom32,852,98221,1293.18 MB4363 months agoMIT
cheerio11,681,77429,6611.27 MB315 days agoMIT
xpath3,620,927232183 kB242 years agoMIT
Feature Comparison: domutils vs htmlparser2 vs css-select vs jsdom vs cheerio vs xpath

Parsing Capabilities

  • domutils:

    domutils does not parse documents but provides utilities for manipulating and traversing DOM-like structures. It is designed to work with other libraries that handle parsing.

  • htmlparser2:

    htmlparser2 is a fast, streaming parser for HTML and XML that handles malformed markup gracefully. It supports incremental parsing, making it memory-efficient for large documents.

  • css-select:

    css-select does not parse documents itself; it relies on other parsers to create a DOM. It focuses on selecting elements using CSS selectors, making it lightweight and efficient for that purpose.

  • jsdom:

    jsdom provides a complete DOM implementation, including parsing HTML and XML documents. It adheres to web standards, making it suitable for applications that require a fully-featured DOM environment.

  • cheerio:

    cheerio parses HTML and XML documents quickly, providing a jQuery-like interface for manipulation. However, it does not handle malformed HTML as robustly as some other parsers.

  • xpath:

    xpath does not parse documents but operates on existing DOM trees. It allows for querying XML and HTML documents using XPath expressions, which can be more powerful than CSS selectors for complex queries.

DOM Manipulation

  • domutils:

    domutils provides basic DOM manipulation utilities, such as inserting, removing, and modifying nodes. It is lightweight and complements other libraries but lacks a comprehensive API.

  • htmlparser2:

    htmlparser2 is primarily a parsing library and does not provide built-in DOM manipulation features. It focuses on efficiently parsing and handling HTML and XML content.

  • css-select:

    css-select does not provide DOM manipulation capabilities; it is solely focused on selecting elements based on CSS selectors. Manipulation must be done using other libraries.

  • jsdom:

    jsdom offers full DOM manipulation capabilities, including support for events, styles, and attributes. It provides a rich API that closely resembles the browser DOM, making it suitable for complex manipulations and testing.

  • cheerio:

    cheerio excels at DOM manipulation, offering a wide range of methods similar to jQuery. It allows for easy traversal, modification, and extraction of elements, making it ideal for web scraping and data manipulation.

  • xpath:

    xpath does not manipulate the DOM; it is used for querying and selecting nodes based on XPath expressions. Manipulation must be done using other DOM manipulation libraries.

Performance

  • domutils:

    domutils is designed to be lightweight and efficient, with minimal overhead for the utility functions it provides. Its performance is best when used with simple DOM structures.

  • htmlparser2:

    htmlparser2 is one of the fastest HTML parsers available, especially for streaming and incremental parsing. It is optimized for performance and memory usage, making it suitable for large documents.

  • css-select:

    css-select is highly efficient for selecting elements, especially when used with a lightweight DOM. Its performance depends on the quality of the input DOM structure.

  • jsdom:

    jsdom is more resource-intensive than lightweight libraries due to its comprehensive DOM implementation. However, it is optimized for performance and is suitable for most server-side applications.

  • cheerio:

    cheerio is lightweight and fast for parsing and manipulating HTML, but it loads the entire document into memory, which can be a limitation for very large files.

  • xpath:

    xpath performance depends on the complexity of the XPath queries and the size of the DOM being queried. It can be slower than CSS selectors for simple tasks but is more powerful for complex queries.

Use Cases

  • domutils:

    domutils is best suited for projects that need utility functions for working with DOM-like structures. It is often used alongside other libraries to enhance their functionality.

  • htmlparser2:

    htmlparser2 is perfect for applications that require fast and efficient parsing of HTML and XML, especially when handling large or malformed documents. It is commonly used in web scraping and data processing tools.

  • css-select:

    css-select is useful for projects that require a lightweight, standalone CSS selector engine. It can be used in conjunction with other libraries for custom selection logic without a full DOM.

  • jsdom:

    jsdom is ideal for testing, server-side rendering, and applications that require a full DOM environment. It is widely used in automated testing frameworks and for simulating browser behavior on the server.

  • cheerio:

    cheerio is ideal for web scraping, data extraction, and server-side HTML manipulation. Its jQuery-like API makes it easy to work with, especially for tasks that involve traversing and modifying the DOM.

  • xpath:

    xpath is useful for applications that need to perform complex queries on XML or HTML documents. It is often used in data extraction, transformation, and processing tasks where advanced querying capabilities are required.

Ease of Use: Code Examples

  • domutils:

    DOM Manipulation with domutils

    const { createElement, appendChild, removeChild } = require('domutils');
    
    const root = createElement('div');
    const child = createElement('span');
    appendChild(root, child);
    
    console.log(root); // <div><span></span></div>
    removeChild(child);
    console.log(root); // <div></div>
    
  • htmlparser2:

    Parsing HTML with htmlparser2

    const { Parser } = require('htmlparser2');
    
    const parser = new Parser({
      onopentag(name) { console.log('Opening tag:', name); },
      ontext(text) { console.log('Text:', text); },
      onclosetag(name) { console.log('Closing tag:', name); },
    });
    
    parser.write('<div>Hello <span>World</span></div>');
    parser.end();
    
  • css-select:

    Selecting Elements with css-select

    const { select } = require('css-select');
    const { parse } = require('node-html-parser');
    
    const html = '<div><p class="text">Hello</p><p class="text">World</p></div>';
    const root = parse(html);
    const elements = select('.text', root);
    
    console.log(elements.map(el => el.text)); // Output: ['Hello', 'World']
    
  • jsdom:

    DOM Manipulation with jsdom

    const { JSDOM } = require('jsdom');
    const dom = new JSDOM('<!DOCTYPE html><p>Hello world</p>');
    const document = dom.window.document;
    const p = document.querySelector('p');
    p.textContent = 'Hello, jsdom!';
    console.log(p.textContent); // Output: Hello, jsdom!
    
  • cheerio:

    Web Scraping with cheerio

    const cheerio = require('cheerio');
    const axios = require('axios');
    
    async function scrapeWebsite(url) {
      const { data } = await axios.get(url);
      const $ = cheerio.load(data);
      const titles = [];
    
      $('h1, h2, h3').each((index, element) => {
        titles.push($(element).text());
      });
    
      return titles;
    }
    
    scrapeWebsite('https://example.com').then(console.log);
    
  • xpath:

    XPath Querying with xpath

    const xpath = require('xpath');
    const { DOMParser } = require('xmldom');
    
    const xml = '<root><item>1</item><item>2</item></root>';
    const doc = new DOMParser().parseFromString(xml);
    const nodes = xpath.select('//item', doc);
    
    nodes.forEach(node => console.log(node.textContent)); // Output: 1
    2
    
How to Choose: domutils vs htmlparser2 vs css-select vs jsdom vs cheerio vs xpath
  • domutils:

    Use domutils if you need utility functions for working with DOM-like structures, especially in conjunction with other libraries. It provides a lightweight solution for manipulating and traversing trees without a full DOM.

  • htmlparser2:

    Opt for htmlparser2 when you require a fast, flexible HTML and XML parser that supports streaming and incremental parsing. It is suitable for high-performance applications where memory efficiency is critical.

  • css-select:

    Select css-select when you need a standalone CSS selector engine for parsing and selecting elements from HTML or XML. It is useful for projects that require custom selection logic without a full DOM.

  • jsdom:

    Choose jsdom if you need a full-featured, standards-compliant DOM implementation for Node.js. It is ideal for testing, server-side rendering, and applications that require a complete browser-like environment.

  • cheerio:

    Choose cheerio if you need a fast, lightweight library for server-side HTML manipulation with a jQuery-like API. It is ideal for web scraping and data extraction tasks where you don't need a full DOM implementation.

  • xpath:

    Select xpath when you need to perform XPath queries on XML or HTML documents. It is useful for projects that require advanced querying capabilities beyond CSS selectors.

README for domutils

domutils Node.js CI

Utilities for working with htmlparser2's DOM.

All functions are exported as a single module. Look through the docs to see what is available.

Ecosystem

| Name | Description | | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | | htmlparser2 | Fast & forgiving HTML/XML parser | | domhandler | Handler for htmlparser2 that turns documents into a DOM | | domutils | Utilities for working with domhandler's DOM | | css-select | CSS selector engine, compatible with domhandler's DOM | | cheerio | The jQuery API for domhandler's DOM | | dom-serializer | Serializer for domhandler's DOM |


License: BSD-2-Clause

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