XML: do child nodes inherit parent’s namespace prefix?
No. Child nodes do not inherit prefixed namespace by default, and explicit prefix addition needed as you mentioned : <foo:child/>. But they do inherit ancestor’s default namespace (the one without prefix), if any : <root xmlns:foo=”…”> <parent xmlns=”bar”> <child/> </parent> </root> <parent> and <child> nodes are in the same namespace which URI is bar.