XPath (short for XML Path Language) is a way to query or navigate structured documents - such as XML (and sometimes HTML) - using paths, similar to folder paths in a file system.

It lets you precisely locate parts of a document (elements, attributes, text nodes) by writing expressions that describe where they are in the document tree.

Why XPath Is Useful

• You can select specific elements or values from a structured document, not just by name, but by their position or attributes.
• It is widely used in tools and scripts (e.g. for XML processing, scraping, web automation) as a precise way to find nodes.
• XPath is more powerful than simple CSS selectors in many cases, because it can move up and down the document tree (ancestor, sibling axes, etc.).

How XPath Works - Basic Concepts

1. Document as a tree
   An XML/HTML document is viewed as a hierarchy (tree) of nodes: elements, attributes, text, etc.
2. Path expressions
   You write something like:/root/section/item
to go from the root node, into “section,” then find “item” elements.
   • // → skip levels (descendants)
   • @ → refer to attributes
   • [...] → filters / conditions
3. Axes and node tests
   An XPath step has three parts:
   • Axis - tells XPath how to move from your current node
   • Node test - what kind of node (element name, * for any, text(), etc.)
   • Predicates - conditions (written in brackets) that filter nodes further
4. Functions & operators
   XPath includes built-in functions and operators for string manipulation, numeric comparison, boolean logic, and more.

In Short: XPath is a powerful query language used to locate nodes or values in structured documents (XML/HTML) using path-like expressions. It gives you fine control over which part of the document you want by navigating through attributes, children, ancestors, and filtering with conditions.