What's the accepted way of storing quoted data in XML?

Question

What\'s the accepted way of storing quoted data in XML?

For example, for a node, which is correct?

• (a) Jesse \"The Body\" Ventura

Answer 1

Double quotes in text nodes can be represented either as the double-quote character or as the " entity. Double quotes in attribute values can be represented as the double-quote character if the value is delimited by single quotes, and vice versa; otherwise, escape them as "

This is only relevant if you're a) editing XML in a non-XML-aware text editor or b) creating XML programmatically through string manipulation. Generally speaking, you should avoid (a) unless you really know what you're doing, or at least have a way of checking the well-formedness of your XML after editing is complete.

And you should avoid (b) under all circumstances. Never create XML through string manipulation; always use a DOM or some other tool.