NuCleuZ wrote in to tell us about a new article posted over on the O'Reilly Network for all of those out there looking forward to the quick and easy XML features coming in PHP 5.

In Using PHP 5's SimpleXML, the author introduces SimpleXML, a light and fast feature that can help even the most seasoned PHP/XML developer create simple, speedy code.

SimpleXML is a new and unique feature of PHP 5 that solves these problems by turning an XML document into a data structure you can iterate through like a collection of arrays and objects. It excels when you're only interested in an element's attributes and text and you know the document's layout ahead of time. SimpleXML is easy to use because it handles only the most common XML tasks, leaving the rest for other extensions.

I'm definitely looking forward to SimpleXML for the official PHP 5 release. I've been frustrated by the SAX and DOM extensions too many times to count, and this could be just the ticket I'll need...