DOM

The DOM (Document Object Model) is an API that represents and interacts with any HTML or XML document. The DOM is a document model loaded in the browser and representing the document as a node tree, where each node represents part of the document (e.g. an element, text string, or comment).

The DOM is one of the most-used APIs on the Web because it allows code running in a browser to access and interact with every node in the document. Nodes can be created, moved and changed. Event listeners can be added to nodes and triggered on occurrence of a given event.

DOM was not originally specified—it came about when browsers began implementing JavaScript. This legacy DOM is sometimes called DOM 0. Today, the W3C leads DOM specification, and the DOM Working Group is currently preparing version 4.

Learn more

General Knowledge

• The Document Object Model on Wikipedia

Technical information

• The DOM documentation on MDN
• The various DOM specifications at W3C