Web/API/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	Status	Comment
DOMThe definition of 'Node: hasChildNodes' in that specification.	Living Standard

Browser compatibility

The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
hasChildNodes	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support Yes	IE Full support 9	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support  

Full support

See also

• Node.childNodes
• Node.hasAttributes

Node.hasChildNodes() by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.