html - get document children with javascript

I'm trying to get document first children (which means: body, html, head etc..) This code line works:

var x = document.body.children;

but this one does not:

var x = document.children;

how can I get the first childs of the document without running on all elements using JAVASCRIPT only?

I'm trying to get document first children (which means: body, html, head etc..) This code line works:

var x = document.body.children;

but this one does not:

var x = document.children;

how can I get the first childs of the document without running on all elements using JAVASCRIPT only?

Share Improve this question asked Sep 11, 2013 at 15:43 Doron Cohen 2456 silver badges15 bronze badges

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3 Answers 3

Sorted by: Reset to default 3

Try childNodes:

document.childNodes

Note that document's children are <DOCTYPE> and <html>

The document element is appropriately called documentElement. In HTML, this is the <html> tag.

So:

document.documentElement.children

This should give you a list of length 2, with the first being the <head> and the second being the <body>.

If you use

document.childNodes

you get the docType and the html.

If you use

document.childNodes[1].childNodes

(supposing you have a doctype)

then you get the header and the body.