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JavaScript JavaScript and the DOM (Retiring) Traversing the DOM Using previousElementSibling and insertBefore

varlevi
varlevi
8,113 Points
Posted by varlevi
varlevi
8,113 Points

previousSibling vs. previousElementSibling

I the video, Guil explains the reason for why previousElementSibling is better than previousSibling, but my question is why Ecma International (the people who standardize and update JavaScript/EMCAScript) didn't just "update" previousSibling to do what previousElementSibling now does?

1 Answer

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,275 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,275 Points

They have different uses. Sometimes, you want to access the previous node, which might not be an element. In that case you would use previousSibling. The previousElementSibling is a better choice when you only want an element, but it's not always a suitable replacement for previousSibling.