Learn XQUERY with Real Code Examples

XQuery is optimized for querying and transforming XML documents.

It uses XPath expressions as its foundation for navigating XML structures.

Commonly used in enterprise systems, content repositories, and applications requiring structured document processing.

FLWOR (For-Let-Where-Order-Return) expressions

XPath path navigation

Strong support for hierarchical data

Typed variables and sequences

Document construction and transformation

XPath expressions

Sequences and nodes

FLWOR expressions

Types and variables

XML document construction

src/ - XQuery modules

xml/ - XML documents

lib/ - reusable functions

tests/ - query tests

docs/ - documentation and schemas

Write XQuery modules (.xq)

Load XML data into processor/database

Run FLWOR queries for extraction

Transform documents with constructors

Output XML/JSON/text results

Beginner: basic XPath queries

Intermediate: FLWOR loops and transformations

Advanced: modular XQuery systems

Expert: XML database optimization

Enterprise: metadata-driven workflows and pipelines

More powerful than XPath for querying

More readable than raw DOM manipulation

More specialized than SQL for hierarchical data

Less general-purpose than Python or Java

Often paired with XML databases for best performance

2002 – Initial W3C drafts

2007 – XQuery 1.0 release

2010s – Adoption in XML databases

2014 – XQuery 3.0

2020s – Continued use in enterprise XML systems

Node: basic XML data unit

Sequence: ordered list of items

FLWOR: main query expression structure

XPath: XML navigation language

Element Constructor: builds new XML nodes