Difference Between Dom Parentnode and Parentelement

When working with JavaScript and manipulating the Document Object Model (DOM), you may come across situations where you need to access the parent element of a particular node. Two commonly used properties for this purpose are parentNode and parentElement. While they may seem similar, there are some key differences between the two.

The parentNode Property

The parentNode property returns the parent node of an element, which can be any type of node, including text nodes, element nodes, or attribute nodes. It traverses up the DOM tree and returns the immediate parent node.

Here’s an example:

const childNode = document.getElementById('child');
const parentNode = childNode.parentNode;
console.log(parentNode);

The output will be the parent node of the childNode.

The parentElement Property

The parentElement property, on the other hand, returns the parent element of an element node. It specifically targets element nodes and excludes other types of nodes like text nodes or attribute nodes.

Here’s an example:

const childElement = document.getElementById('child');
const parentElement = childElement.parentElement;
console.log(parentElement);

The output will be the parent element of the childElement.

Differences between parentNode and parentElement

While both properties serve a similar purpose of accessing the parent of an element, there are a few key differences:

1. parentNode can return any type of node, while parentElement specifically returns only element nodes.
2. If the target node is not an element node, parentNode will return the parent node, while parentElement will return null.
3. parentNode is supported in all browsers, including older versions, while parentElement is not supported in Internet Explorer 8 and earlier.

Conclusion

When it comes to accessing the parent of an element in the DOM, both parentNode and parentElement can be used. However, it’s important to consider the differences between the two and choose the appropriate property based on your specific needs.

Remember:

• parentNode returns the parent node, which can be any type of node.
• parentElement returns the parent element, specifically targeting element nodes.