Task: XML_XPath
C++: #include <cassert>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <iostream>
#include <stdexcept>
#include <utility>
#include <vector>

#include <libxml/parser.h>
#include <libxml/tree.h>
#include <libxml/xmlerror.h>
#include <libxml/xmlstring.h>
#include <libxml/xmlversion.h>
#include <libxml/xpath.h>

#ifndef LIBXML_XPATH_ENABLED
#   error libxml was not configured with XPath support
#endif







template <typename F>
class [[nodiscard]] scope_exit
{
public:
    
     constexpr explicit scope_exit(F&& f) :
        f_{std::move(f)}
    {}

    ~scope_exit()
    {
        f_();
    }

    
    scope_exit(scope_exit const&) = delete;
    scope_exit(scope_exit&&) = delete;
    auto operator=(scope_exit const&) -> scope_exit& = delete;
    auto operator=(scope_exit&&) -> scope_exit& = delete;

private:
    F f_;
};


class libxml_error : public std::runtime_error
{
public:
    libxml_error() : libxml_error(std::string{}) {}

    explicit libxml_error(std::string message) :
        std::runtime_error{make_message_(std::move(message))}
    {}

private:
    static auto make_message_(std::string message) -> std::string
    {
        if (auto const last_error = ::xmlGetLastError(); last_error)
        {
            if (not message.empty())
                message += ": ";
            message += last_error->message;
        }

        return message;
    }
};

auto main() -> int
{
    try
    {
        
        ::xmlInitParser();
        LIBXML_TEST_VERSION
        auto const libxml_cleanup = scope_exit{[] { ::xmlCleanupParser(); }};

        
        auto const doc = ::xmlParseFile("test.xml");
        if (not doc)
            throw libxml_error{"failed to load document"};
        auto const doc_cleanup = scope_exit{[doc] { ::xmlFreeDoc(doc); }};

        
        auto const xpath_context = ::xmlXPathNewContext(doc);
        if (not xpath_context)
            throw libxml_error{"failed to create XPath context"};
        auto const xpath_context_cleanup = scope_exit{[xpath_context]
            { ::xmlXPathFreeContext(xpath_context); }};

        
        {
            std::cout << "Task 1:\n";

            auto const xpath =
                reinterpret_cast<::xmlChar const*>(u8"

            
            auto xpath_obj = ::xmlXPathEvalExpression(xpath, xpath_context);
            if (not xpath_obj)
                throw libxml_error{"failed to evaluate XPath"};
            auto const xpath_obj_cleanup = scope_exit{[xpath_obj]
                { ::xmlXPathFreeObject(xpath_obj); }};

            
            
            auto const result = xmlXPathNodeSetItem(xpath_obj->nodesetval, 0);
            if (result)
                std::cout << '\t' << "node found" << '\n';
            else
                std::cout << '\t' << "node not found" << '\n';
        }

        
        {
            std::cout << "Task 2:\n";

            auto const xpath =
                reinterpret_cast<::xmlChar const*>(u8"

            
            auto xpath_obj = ::xmlXPathEvalExpression(xpath, xpath_context);
            if (not xpath_obj)
                throw libxml_error{"failed to evaluate XPath"};
            auto const xpath_obj_cleanup = scope_exit{[xpath_obj]
                { ::xmlXPathFreeObject(xpath_obj); }};

            
            auto const count =
                xmlXPathNodeSetGetLength(xpath_obj->nodesetval);
            for (auto i = decltype(count){0}; i < count; ++i)
            {
                auto const node =
                    xmlXPathNodeSetItem(xpath_obj->nodesetval, i);
                assert(node);

                auto const content = XML_GET_CONTENT(node);
                assert(content);

                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                std::cout << "\n\t" << reinterpret_cast<char const*>(content);
            }

            std::cout << '\n';
        }

        
        {
            std::cout << "Task 3:\n";

            auto const xpath =
                reinterpret_cast<::xmlChar const*>(u8"

            
            auto xpath_obj = ::xmlXPathEvalExpression(xpath, xpath_context);
            if (not xpath_obj)
                throw libxml_error{"failed to evaluate XPath"};
            auto const xpath_obj_cleanup = scope_exit{[xpath_obj]
                { ::xmlXPathFreeObject(xpath_obj); }};

            
            
            auto const results = [ns=xpath_obj->nodesetval]()
            {
                auto v = std::vector<::xmlNode*>{};
                if (ns && ns->nodeTab)
                    v.assign(ns->nodeTab, ns->nodeTab + ns->nodeNr);
                return v;
            }();
            std::cout << '\t' << "set of " << results.size()
                << " node(s) found" << '\n';
        }
    }
    catch (std::exception const& x)
    {
        std::cerr << "ERROR: " << x.what() << '\n';
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }
}

VB: Set objXMLDoc = CreateObject("msxml2.domdocument")

objXMLDoc.load("In.xml")

Set item_nodes = objXMLDoc.selectNodes("//item")
i = 1
For Each item In item_nodes
	If i = 1 Then
		WScript.StdOut.Write item.xml
		WScript.StdOut.WriteBlankLines(2)
		Exit For
	End If
Next

Set price_nodes = objXMLDoc.selectNodes("//price")
list_price = ""
For Each price In price_nodes
	list_price = list_price & price.text & ", "
Next
WScript.StdOut.Write list_price
WScript.StdOut.WriteBlankLines(2)

Set name_nodes = objXMLDoc.selectNodes("//name")
list_name = ""
For Each name In name_nodes
	list_name = list_name & name.text & ", "
Next
WScript.StdOut.Write list_name
WScript.StdOut.WriteBlankLines(2)