http://xml.apache.org/commons/components/external/: xml-commons provides an Apache-hosted set of DOM, SAX, and JAXP interfaces for use in other xml-based projects. Our hope is that we can standardize on both a common version and packaging scheme for these critical XML standards interfaces to make the lives of both our developers and users easier. The External Components portion of xml-commons contains interfaces that are defined by external standards organizations. For DOM, that's the W3C; for SAX it's David Megginson and sax.sourceforge.net; for JAXP it's Sun. 
/*
 * Copyright (c) 2004 World Wide Web Consortium,
 *
 * (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, European Research Consortium for
 * Informatics and Mathematics, Keio University). All Rights Reserved. This
 * work is distributed under the W3C(r) Software License [1] in the hope that
 * it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied
 * warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
 *
 * [1] http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/2002/copyright-software-20021231
 */

package org.w3c.dom;


The NodeList interface provides the abstraction of an ordered 
collection of nodes, without defining or constraining how this collection 
is implemented. NodeList objects in the DOM are live.

The items in the NodeList are accessible via an integral 
index, starting from 0.

See also the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification.

/**
 * The <code>NodeList</code> interface provides the abstraction of an ordered 
 * collection of nodes, without defining or constraining how this collection 
 * is implemented. <code>NodeList</code> objects in the DOM are live.
 * <p>The items in the <code>NodeList</code> are accessible via an integral 
 * index, starting from 0.
 * <p>See also the <a href='http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/REC-DOM-Level-3-Core-20040407'>Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification</a>.
 */
public interface NodeList {
    
Returns the indexth item in the collection. If 
index is greater than or equal to the number of nodes in 
the list, this returns null.

Params:
  • index – Index into the collection.
Returns:The node at the indexth position in the 
  NodeList, or null if that is not a valid 
  index.
/**
     * Returns the <code>index</code>th item in the collection. If 
     * <code>index</code> is greater than or equal to the number of nodes in 
     * the list, this returns <code>null</code>.
     * @param index Index into the collection.
     * @return The node at the <code>index</code>th position in the 
     *   <code>NodeList</code>, or <code>null</code> if that is not a valid 
     *   index.
     */
    public Node item(int index);

    
The number of nodes in the list. The range of valid child node indices 
is 0 to length-1 inclusive.

/**
     * The number of nodes in the list. The range of valid child node indices 
     * is 0 to <code>length-1</code> inclusive.
     */
    public int getLength();

}