dom-serializer vs htmlparser2 vs xmlbuilder vs cheerio

Package	Downloads	Stars	Size	Issues	Publish	License

dom-serializer	59,153,662	138	28.8 kB	9	-	MIT
htmlparser2	49,443,779	4,736	489 kB	21	a year ago	MIT
xmlbuilder	39,514,315	922	-	7	6 years ago	MIT
cheerio	14,262,521	29,944	1.27 MB	52	5 months ago	MIT

Parsing Capabilities

dom-serializer:
dom-serializer is not a parsing library. It focuses on serializing DOM nodes into HTML or XML strings, preserving the structure and content of the nodes.
htmlparser2:
htmlparser2 is a fast and flexible parser for HTML and XML. It supports both streaming and DOM-like parsing, allowing for efficient handling of large documents and real-time data.
xmlbuilder:
xmlbuilder is not a parsing library; it is designed for creating XML documents. It provides an API for building XML structures programmatically, but it does not parse existing XML.
cheerio:
cheerio does not perform parsing itself; it relies on other parsers (like htmlparser2) to convert HTML into a DOM-like structure. Once parsed, it provides a jQuery-like API for manipulation.

DOM Manipulation

dom-serializer:
dom-serializer does not provide DOM manipulation capabilities. It is solely focused on serializing DOM nodes into strings.
htmlparser2:
htmlparser2 does not offer built-in DOM manipulation features. It is primarily a parsing library, but it can be used in conjunction with other libraries that provide manipulation capabilities.
xmlbuilder:
xmlbuilder allows for manipulation of XML structures as you build them. You can add elements, attributes, and text content dynamically, but it does not manipulate existing XML documents.
cheerio:
cheerio excels at DOM manipulation, providing a rich set of methods for traversing, modifying, and querying the DOM. Its API is similar to jQuery, making it easy to use for those familiar with jQuery.

Serialization

dom-serializer:
dom-serializer specializes in serialization, providing precise control over how DOM nodes are converted to HTML or XML strings. It handles various node types and preserves their attributes and content.
htmlparser2:
htmlparser2 does not handle serialization. It is focused on parsing HTML and XML efficiently, leaving serialization to other libraries or components.
xmlbuilder:
xmlbuilder provides serialization as part of its XML building process. Once the XML structure is created, it can be serialized to a string with a simple method call.
cheerio:
cheerio provides serialization capabilities, allowing you to convert manipulated HTML back into a string. However, it is not its primary focus, and the serialization quality depends on the underlying parser.

Use Case

dom-serializer:
dom-serializer is best suited for applications that need to serialize DOM nodes to HTML or XML, such as custom rendering engines or data processing tools.
htmlparser2:
htmlparser2 is perfect for parsing large HTML or XML documents quickly and efficiently, making it suitable for web crawlers, data extraction, and real-time parsing applications.
xmlbuilder:
xmlbuilder is designed for generating XML documents programmatically, making it useful for applications that need to create well-structured XML data for APIs, configuration files, or data interchange.
cheerio:
cheerio is ideal for web scraping, server-side DOM manipulation, and any task that requires jQuery-like syntax for HTML manipulation in a Node.js environment.

Ease of Use: Code Examples

dom-serializer:

Serializing DOM Nodes with dom-serializer

const { DOMImplementation } = require('xmldom');
const { serialize } = require('dom-serializer');

const doc = new DOMImplementation().createDocument();
const root = doc.createElement('root');
doc.appendChild(root);
root.appendChild(doc.createTextNode('Hello, World!'));

const html = serialize(root);
console.log(html);

htmlparser2:

Parsing HTML with htmlparser2

const { Parser } = require('htmlparser2');

const parser = new Parser({
  onopentag(name, attributes) {
    console.log(`Opened tag: ${name}`);
  },
  ontext(text) {
    console.log(`Text: ${text}`);
  },
  onclosetag(tagName) {
    console.log(`Closed tag: ${tagName}`);
  },
});

parser.write('<div>Hello <b>World</b></div>');
parser.end();

xmlbuilder:

Creating XML with xmlbuilder

const { create } = require('xmlbuilder');

const xml = create('root')
  .ele('child', { attr: 'value' }, 'Content')
  .end({ pretty: true });

console.log(xml);

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 title = $('title').text();
  console.log(`Title: ${title}`);
}

scrapeWebsite('https://example.com');

Name	Type	Default value	Description
`node`	Node \| Node[]	-	Node to be rendered.
`options`	DomSerializerOptions	{}	Changes serialization behavior

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

Parsing Capabilities

DOM Manipulation

Serialization

Use Case

Ease of Use: Code Examples

dom-serializer

API

`render`

Parameters:

Options

`encodeEntities`

`decodeEntities`

`emptyAttrs`

`selfClosingTags`

`xmlMode`

Ecosystem