Node.hasChildNodes()

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

Syntax

bool = node.hasChildNodes();

Return value

A Boolean that is true if the node has child nodes, and false otherwise.

Example

let foo = document.getElementById('foo');

if (foo.hasChildNodes()) {
  // Do something with 'foo.childNodes'
}

Polyfill

Here is one possible polyfill:

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

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)

Specifications

Specification
DOM Standard (DOM)
# ref-for-dom-node-haschildnodes①

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also