We present the first complete translation of XPath into an algebra, paving the way for a comprehensive, state-of-the-art XPath (and later on, XQuery) compiler based on algebraic optimization techniques. Our translation includes all XPath features such as nested expressions, position-based predicates and node-set functions.

The translated algebraic expressions can be executed using the proven, scalable, iterator-based approach, as we demonstrate in form of a corresponding physical algebra in our native XML DBMS Natix. A first glance at performance results shows that even without further optimization of the expressions, we provide a competitive evaluation technique for XPath queries.