Any step expression can use a QName: h:body

The prefix binding is defined external to the expression (e.g. application specific).

Matching is based on the local name and namespace name and not the prefix.

We could add namespaces to the previous examples:

/s:contents/d:para
/s:contents/d:para/h:a/@href

The application would have to define the prefixes 's', 'd', and 'h'.