Node.hasChildNodes()

The Node.hasChildNodes() method returns a Boolean value indicating whether the current Node has child nodes or not.

Syntax

result = node.hasChildNodes();

result

holds the return value true or false.

Examples

The next example removes the first child node inside the element with the id "foo" if foo has child nodes.

var foo = document.getElementById("foo");
if (foo.hasChildNodes()) { 
    // do something with 'foo.childNodes'
}

Polyfill

;(function(prototype) {
    prototype.hasChildNodes = prototype.hasChildNodes || function() {
        return !!this.firstChild;
    }
})(Node.prototype);

Summary

There are various ways to determine whether the node has a child node.

• node.hasChildNodes()
• node.firstChild != null (or just node.firstChild)
• node.childNodes && node.childNodes.length (or node.childNodes.length > 0)

Specification

• WHATWG: hasChildNodes
• hasChildNodes

Browser compatibility

See also

• Node.childNodes
• Node.hasAttributes