By Vishal Basumatary in javascript — Mar 25, 2023

javascript dom manipulation

Javascript DOM Manipulation

As a web developer, I have come across the term "DOM Manipulation" quite often. DOM stands for Document Object Model, which is a programming interface for HTML and XML documents. DOM manipulation refers to changing the HTML or XML structure of a document using Javascript.

Why do we need DOM Manipulation?

DOM manipulation is important because it allows us to dynamically change the content of a webpage without having to reload the entire page. This enhances the user experience by making the website more interactive and responsive.

How to manipulate the DOM using Javascript?

Here are some common ways to manipulate the DOM using Javascript:

Selecting Elements: The first step in DOM manipulation is selecting the element(s) that we want to manipulate. We can use various methods such as getElementById, getElementsByClassName, getElementsByTagName, and querySelector to select elements.
Changing Element Attributes: We can change the attributes of an element such as id, class, src, etc. using Javascript. We can use the setAttribute method to set the attribute value.
Changing Element Content: We can change the content of an element using Javascript. We can use the innerHTML property to set the HTML content or the textContent property to set the text content.
Adding/Removing Elements: We can add or remove elements from the DOM using Javascript. We can use methods such as createElement, appendChild, removeChild, etc. to add or remove elements.
Changing Element Styles: We can change the CSS styles of an element using Javascript. We can use the style property to set the CSS styles.
Handling Events: We can handle events such as click, submit, etc. using Javascript. We can use methods such as addEventListener to add event listeners to elements.

Here is an example of changing the text content of an HTML element using Javascript:


// Select the element
var element = document.getElementById("myElement");

// Change the text content
element.textContent = "New text content";

Here is an example of adding a new HTML element to the DOM using Javascript:


// Create a new element
var newElement = document.createElement("div");

// Set the element attributes
newElement.setAttribute("id", "newElement");
newElement.setAttribute("class", "myClass");

// Set the element content
newElement.textContent = "New element content";

// Add the element to the DOM
document.body.appendChild(newElement);

There are many other ways to manipulate the DOM using Javascript. It is important to use the right method for the task at hand and to test the code thoroughly to ensure that it works as expected.