when to use attribute and when child?

Question

I have a doubt and it is when to use an attribute and when a child or grandchild.

For example, I can have an element with two attribute but I can have two this element with two children, one for each attribute.

So my question is when it is a good idea to use attributes and when to use children.

... or [XML attribute vs XML element](http://stackoverflow.com/q/152313/205233). — Filburt, May 22 '13 at 07:08

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered May 22 '13 at 07:01

I would use childs when their elements are related, e. g. there is a "car" child with "Color" and "Manufacturer" Elements. On the other hand, when there is only one unrelated Element it could be an attribute. Most XML I have seen does favor childs over attributes - so I would use attributes sparingly.

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 22 '13 at 07:25

I use an attribute when it only lives as data associated to it's element.

When the data can also live as a separate entity or it can have attributes/child of it's own or it's a collection, I create a child element

For example

the VIN of a car is an attribute
the color of a car can be a child,but 'red' is not really meaningful so it's an attribute
Wheels is a child because it's a collection
wheel is a child because it can have attributes
Person name is an attribute
Person's daughter is a child element (can have attributes, and childs)

That's how I approach it.

when to use attribute and when child?

2 Answers2