HTML DOM Element childNodes
Example
Get the <body> element's child nodes:
const nodeList = document.body.childNodes;
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Get the number of child nodes in "myDIV":
let numb = document.getElementById("myDIV").childNodes.length;
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More examples below.
Description
The childNodes property returns a collection (list) of an elements's child nodes.
The childNodes property returns a NodeList object.
The childNodes property is read-only.
childNodes[0] is the same as firstChild.
Important!
childNodes returns nodes: Element nodes, text nodes, and comment nodes.
Whitespace between elements are also text nodes.
Alternative:
The children property returns elements (ignores text and comments).
See Also:
Node Properties
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.childNodes
Return Value
| Type | Description |
| Object | A NodeList object collection of nodes. The nodes are sorted as they appear in the document. |
More Examples
Change the background color of the second child node:
element.childNodes[1].style.backgroundColor = "yellow";
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Get the text of the third child node of a <select> element:
let text = document.getElementById("mySelect").childNodes[2].text;
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Browser Support
element.childNodes 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 |