The ParentNode.firstElementChild
read-only property returns the object's first child Element
, or null
if there are no child elements.
This property was initially defined in the ElementTraversal
pure interface. As this interface contained two distinct set of properties, one aimed at Node
that have children, one at those that are children, they have been moved into two separate pure interfaces, ParentNode
and ChildNode
. In this case, firstElementChild
moved to ParentNode
. This is a fairly technical change that shouldn't affect compatibility.
Syntax
var element = node.firstElementChild;
Example
<ul id="foo"> <li>First (1)</li> <li>Second (2)</li> <li>Third (3)</li> </ul> <script> var foo = document.getElementById('foo'); // yields: First (1) console.log(foo.firstElementChild.textContent); </script>
Polyfill for IE8, IE9 and Safari
// Overwrites native 'firstElementChild' prototype. // Adds Document & DocumentFragment support for IE9 & Safari. ;(function(constructor) { if (constructor && constructor.prototype && constructor.prototype.firstElementChild == null) { Object.defineProperty(constructor.prototype, 'firstElementChild', { get: function() { var node, nodes = this.childNodes, i = 0; while (node = nodes[i++]) { if (node.nodeType === 1) { return node; } } return null; } }); } })(window.Node || window.Element);
Specification
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
DOM The definition of 'ParentNode.firstElementChild' in that specification. |
Living Standard | Split the ElementTraversal interface in ChildNode and ParentNode . This method is now defined on the latter.The Document and DocumentFragment implemented the new interfaces. |
Element Traversal Specification The definition of 'ElementTraversal.firstElementChild' in that specification. |
Obsolete | Added its initial definition to the ElementTraversal pure interface and use it on Element . |
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.
Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
firstElementChild | Chrome Full support 1 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 3.5 | IE Full support 9 | Opera Full support 10 | Safari Full support 4 | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
Support on Document and DocumentFragment | Chrome Full support 29 | Edge Full support ≤79 | Firefox Full support 25 | IE No support No | Opera Full support 16 | Safari No support No | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android ? | Opera Android ? | Safari iOS No support No | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- No support
- No support
- Compatibility unknown
- Compatibility unknown
- Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
- Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
See also
NonDocumentTypeChildNode.nextElementSibling
ParentNode.lastElementChild
- The
ParentNode
andChildNode
pure interfaces.