[jdom-interest] Parents - why do we need them?

[Noam Tamim]

No, I'm not referring to mom and dad. I just wonder - asides from XPath, who
needs to know about someone's parent?
For example, why can't I use the same Attribute again and again?

class SharedAttr extends Attribute {
    SharedAttr(String name, String value) {
        super(name,value);
    }

    Element getParent() {
        return null;
    }
}

Using this class everywhere instead Attribute enables me to share the same
object between several Elements.


 - Noam.