how do u start with..

ok..my question
need to write simple xml/java programs to understand sax..dom...i got java1.3..
do i import any xml packages? if so..from where?
do u guys use some ide to write xml/java prog...
my objective is simple
a) Use text editor to writte programs
b) compile it
c) run it
if i use jdk1.3...whar the steps needed.. like from where we need to download xml packages...how do we include in classpath etc
please step by step or link

Checkout the Javaranch XML links page.
First start with learning XML basics. Try one of the tutorials in the link repository.
Next download any of the XML parsers( JAXP from Sun or Xerces from Apache). The parser download will come bundled with example programs which can be readily compiled and run. Try them out with sample XML files and experiment by tweaking them.
Good luck,

------------------
Ajith Kallambella M.
Sun Certified Programmer for the Java�2 Platform.
IBM Certified Developer - XML and Related Technologies, V1.