Difference between DOM parentNode and parentElement in JavaScript

HTML DOM parentNode Property: The parent node property is a read-only property that returns us the name of the parent node of the selected node as a node object. The Node object represents a single node in the document tree and a node can be an element node, text node, or more. 

Syntax:

node.parentNode

Return Value: The parent node property returns the parent node object if present or else it will return “null”. 

Example: 

html

<h1 style="color:green">GeeksforGeeks</h1>

<div>
    <p id="gfg">Click the button to get the
        node name of the parent node.</p>
    <!--here 'p' element is inside 'div' element
        meaning that 'div' is the parent of 'p' element here-->
</div>

<button onclick="myParentNode()">Try it</button>

<p id="text"></p>

<script>
    function myParentNode() {
        var geek = document.getElementById("gfg").parentNode.nodeName;

        /*appending parent node to the 'p' element with id named text*/
        document.getElementById("text").innerHTML = geek;
    }
</script>

Output: 

Difference between DOM parentNode and parentElement in JavaScript

parentElement: The parent element is read only property which returns the parent element of the selected element.The element object represents an HTML element, like P, DIV, etc. 

Syntax: 

node.parentElement

Return Value: The parentElement property returns an element object representing parent element if present or else it will return null. 

Example: 

html

<h1 style="color:green">GeeksforGeeks Courses</h1>

<ol>
    <li id="geek">DSA</li>
    <li>Interview Preparation</li>
    <li>Geeks Classes</li>
</ol>

<p>Click the button to get the node
    name of the parent element</p>

<button onclick="myParentElement()">
    Click to know the parent element
</button>
<!--here 'li' element is inside 'ol' element meaning
    that 'ol' is the parent of 'li' element here-->
<p id="gfg"></p>

<script>
    function myParentElement() {
        var text = document.getElementById(
        "geek").parentElement.nodeName;
        document.getElementById("gfg").innerHTML = text;
    }
</script>

Output: 

Difference between DOM parentNode and parentElement in JavaScript

Difference: Parent Element returns null if the parent is not an element node, that is the main difference between parentElement and parentNode. In many cases one can use anyone of them, in most cases, they are the same. For instance:

// returns the document node
document.documentElement.parentNode; 

// returns null
document.documentElement.parentElement; 

The HTML element (document.documentElement) doesn’t have a parent that is an element, it is a node, therefore, the parent element is null.