Java to XSD or XSD to Java

java xsd jaxb pojo
Paul Reiners picture Paul Reiners · Oct 17, 2012 · Viewed 11.9k times · Source

I know that, using JAXB, you can generate Java files from an XSD and that you can also generate the XSD from annotated POJOs. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Is one overall better than the other?

We basically want to serialize events to a log in XML format.

Answer

bdoughan picture bdoughan · Oct 17, 2012

Ultimately it depends on where you want to focus:

If the XML Schema is the Most Important Thing

Then it is best to start from the XML schema and generate a JAXB model. There are details of an XML schema that a JAXB (JSR-222) implementation just can't generate:

  • A maxOccurs other than 0, 1, or unbounded
  • many facets on a simple type
  • model groups

If the Object Model is the Most Important Thing

If you will be using the Java model for more than just converting between objects and XML (i.e. using it with JPA for persistence) then I would recommend starting with Java objects. This will give you the greatest control.

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