XDocument or XmlDocument

Question

I am now learning XmlDocument but I've just ran into XDocument and when I try to search the difference or benefits of them I can't find something useful, could you please tell me why you would use one over another ?

Answer 1

XmlDocument is great for developers who are familiar with the XML DOM object model. It's been around for a while, and more or less corresponds to a W3C standard. It supports manual navigation as well as XPath node selection.

XDocument powers the LINQ to XML feature in .NET 3.5. It makes heavy use of IEnumerable<> and can be easier to work with in straight C#.

Both document models require you to load the entire document into memory (unlike XmlReader for example).

Answer 2

Also, note that XDocument is supported in Xbox 360 and Windows Phone OS 7.0. If you target them, develop for XDocument or migrate from XmlDocument.