Summary What is the 'pull model'?

A pull model is a cursor which pulls the data FROM the XML file and reads it node for node at a time. It has the full control over the node. The XmlReader class is such a class which provides that kind of model. It is a read-only, non-cached, forward-only cursor to access data in a XML file. In comparison: The (XmlDocument) DOM model is parser which provides read/write access to the XML file. The difference is that the XmlReader consumes less memory than the XmlDocument, because it reads node for node. The XmlDocument class reads the complete file into the memory and provides more flexibility. That means you can move around like you wish in the XML file. You can also add, edit or delete nodes. This all is not possible with the pull model. The pull model is always used if you just require to need the nodes fast and quickly. Both can be also combined: If you need to modify a large file, you could read it with the XmlNodeReader and pass the reader to the XmlDocument which will let you modify it.