Difference between DOM parentNode and parentElement
JavascriptFirefoxDomJavascript Problem Overview
Can somebody explain in simple terms, what is the difference between classical DOM parentNode and newly introduced in Firefox 9 parentElement
Javascript Solutions
Solution 1 - Javascript
parentElement is new to Firefox 9 and to DOM4, but it has been present in all other major browsers for ages.
In most cases, it is the same as parentNode. The only difference comes when a node's parentNode is not an element. If so, parentElement is null.
As an example:
document.body.parentNode; // the <html> element
document.body.parentElement; // the <html> element
document.documentElement.parentNode; // the document node
document.documentElement.parentElement; // null
(document.documentElement.parentNode === document); // true
(document.documentElement.parentElement === document); // false
Since the <html> element (document.documentElement) doesn't have a parent that is an element, parentElement is null. (There are other, more unlikely, cases where parentElement could be null, but you'll probably never come across them.)
Solution 2 - Javascript
In Internet Explorer, parentElement is undefined for SVG elements, whereas parentNode is defined.
Solution 3 - Javascript
Use .parentElement and you can't go wrong as long as you aren't using document fragments.
If you use document fragments, then you need .parentNode:
let div = document.createDocumentFragment().appendChild(document.createElement('div'));
div.parentElement // null
div.parentNode // document fragment
Also:
let div = document.getElementById('t').content.firstChild
div.parentElement // null
div.parentNode // document fragment
<template id="t"><div></div></template>
Apparently the <html>'s .parentNode links to the Document. This should be considered a decision phail as documents aren't nodes since nodes are defined to be containable by documents and documents can't be contained by documents.
Solution 4 - Javascript
Just like with nextSibling and nextElementSibling, just remember that, properties with "element" in their name always returns Element or null. Properties without can return any other kind of node.
console.log(document.body.parentNode, "is body's parent node"); // returns <html>
console.log(document.body.parentElement, "is body's parent element"); // returns <html>
var html = document.body.parentElement;
console.log(html.parentNode, "is html's parent node"); // returns document
console.log(html.parentElement, "is html's parent element"); // returns null
Solution 5 - Javascript
there is one more difference, but only in internet explorer. It occurs when you mix HTML and SVG. if the parent is the 'other' of those two, then .parentNode gives the parent, while .parentElement gives undefined.