25. The character processor device of claim 13 wherein when the logic processing performs the operation of: detecting the well-formedness of the markup language data by comparing representations of at least one of the prefix and suffix portions of the end element to stored representations of at least one of a prefix and suffix portion of a start element previously detected in the character stream of markup language data for validation of the end element; storing the start element prefix and suffix in registers; and providing valid bits associated with the registers such that the character processor is notified that an end element is compared properly.
13. A character processor device comprising: an input interface for receiving a character stream of extensible markup language (XML) data; logic processing coupled to the input interface and configured to receive and apply sequences of characters of the character stream to a set of state machines encoded within the logic processing, the set of state machines including a plurality of construct state machines responsible for processing respective XML constructs identified by the sequences of characters; the logic processing operating a primary state machine to control to control invocation of the respective construct state machines to process different types of XML constructs encountered during reception of the character stream of XML data; the logic processing operating a character provider in a character processor to provide characters from the character stream to the set of state machines; and the logic processing producing, from an output interface coupled to the logic processing, from application of the sequences of characters to the set of state machines, an intermediate representation of the markup language constructs identified by the sequence of characters of the character stream of XML language including data type, length, value representations of the XML constructs, the intermediate representation containing encoded items representative of the original stream of markup language data.