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HTML DOM firstChild Property

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The DOM firstChild Property is used to return the firstchild Node of its parent node element. It is read-only property and may return an element node, a text node or a comment node. 

Syntax:

node.firstChild 

Return Value: It returns a string value which represent the first child of a node. If the element does not have a child node then it returns a null value. 

Note: Whitespace inside the parent elements is considered as text, and text is considered as nodes. 

Example-1: 

html




<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <style>
        h1 {
            color: green;
        }
    </style>
</head>
  
<body style="margin-left:140px;">
    <h1>GeeksForGeeks</h1>
    <h2>DOM firstChild Property </h2>
  
      
<p>List of sorting::</p>
  
    <ul id="GFG"><li>Merge Sort</li>
    <li>Quick Sort</li>
    <li>Selection Sort</li>
    <li>Bubble Sort</li>
    </ul>
    <button onclick="Geeks()">Submit</button>
    <p id="sudo"></p>
  
    <script>
        function Geeks() {
            var x =
            document.getElementById("GFG").firstChild.innerHTML;
            document.getElementById("sudo").innerHTML = x;
        }
    </script>
</body>
  
</html>


Output: 

Before clicking on the Button:

  

After clicking on the button:

  

Example-2: To get the node name of the first child-

html




<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <style>
            h1 {
                color: green;
            }
              
            #GFG {
                font-size: 20px;
            }
        </style>
    </head>
      
    <body style="margin-left:140px;">
        <h1>GeeksForGeeks</h1>
        <h2>DOM firstChild Property </h2>
        <div id="GFG">
<p>first Node</p>
<span>Second Node</span>
              
<p>ThirdNode</p>
  
        </div>
        <br>
        <button onclick="Geeks()">Submit</button>
      
        <p id="sudo" style="font-size:25PX;"></p>
  
      
        <script>
            function Geeks() {
                var x =
                document.getElementById("GFG").firstChild.nodeName;
                document.getElementById("sudo").innerHTML =
                "node name of the first child node "
                + "of a <div> element:" + x;
            }
        </script>
    </body>
</html>                


Output: 

Before clicking on the button:

  

After clicking on the button:

  

Supported Browsers: The browser supported by DOM firstChild property are listed below:

  • Google Chrome 1.0
  • Edge 12.0
  • Internet Explorer 6.0
  • Firefox 1.0
  • Opera 12.1
  • Safari 1.0


Last Updated : 13 Jun, 2023
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