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JavaScript JavaScript and the DOM (Retiring) Making Changes to the DOM Removing Nodes

Jake Kobs
Jake Kobs
9,215 Points
Posted by Jake Kobs
Jake Kobs
9,215 Points

Why won't firstChild work for the code challenge?

Here's the code that works:

let myList = document.getElementsByTagName("ul")[0];
let firstListItem = myList.children[0];

Why wont the following code work? Doesn't it mean the same thing?

let myList = document.getElementsByTagName("ul")[0];
let firstListItem = myList.firstChild;
eslam said
eslam said
Courses Plus Student 6,734 Points
eslam said
eslam said
Courses Plus Student 6,734 Points

firstChild returns a a text node not an element

1 Answer

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,261 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,261 Points

The "children" property returns only elements but the "firstChild" property returns the first node, which is not guaranteed to be an element.

What you probably want instead is "firstElementChild".