HTML DOM Element hasChildNodes()
Example
Does an element have child nodes:
let answer = element.hasChildNodes();
Try it Yourself »
Remove the first child node of an element:
if (element.hasChildNodes()) {
element.removeChild(element.childNodes[0]);
}
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Description
The hasChildNodes() method returns true if the specified node has any child nodes, otherwise false.
The hasChildNodes() method is read-only.
Important!
Whitespace between nodes are considered child nodes (text nodes).
See Also:
HTML Nodes vs Elements
In the HTML DOM (Document Object Model), an HTML document is a collection of nodes with (or without) child nodes.
Nodes are element nodes, text nodes, and comment nodes.
Whitespace between elements are also text nodes.
Elements are only element nodes.
childNodes vs children
childNodes returns child nodes (element nodes, text nodes, and comment nodes).
children returns child elements (not text and comment nodes).
Siblings vs Element Siblings
Siblings are "brothers" and "sisters".
Siblings are nodes with the same parent (in the same childNodes list).
Element Siblings are elements with the same parent (in the same children list).
Syntax
element.hasChildNodes()
Parameters
| NONE |
Return Value
| Type | Description |
| Boolean | true if the element has child nodes,
otherwise false. |
Browser Support
element.hasChildNodes() is a DOM Level 1 (1998) feature.
It is fully supported in all browsers:
| Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Safari | Opera | IE |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9-11 |