1. A method of parsing an XML data stream comprising: receiving an XML data stream containing a namespace prefix and an associated element tag name, the element tag name being associated with an element tag; converting the namespace prefix and the element tag name into a token that uniquely represents a namespace specification that is associated with the namespace prefix and the element tag; defining a stack that is configured to receive one or more tokens during parsing of the XML data stream; and placing a token on the stack, said acts of receiving, converting, defining and placing being configured to permit parsing of the XML data stream to begin without requiring an XML tree structure, comprising an XML document embodied by the XML data stream, to be built.