Java tutorial
import java.io.StringReader; import javax.xml.xpath.XPath; import javax.xml.xpath.XPathConstants; import javax.xml.xpath.XPathFactory; import org.xml.sax.InputSource; public class Main { private static final String XML = "<dennis><hair>brown</hair><pants>blue</pants><gender>male</gender></dennis>"; public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception { XPathFactory xpf = XPathFactory.newInstance(); XPath xPath = xpf.newXPath(); InputSource inputSource = new InputSource(new StringReader(XML)); String result = (String) xPath.evaluate("//gender", inputSource, XPathConstants.STRING); System.out.println(result); } }