ParentNode.lastElementChild

The ParentNode.lastElementChild read-only property returns the object's last child Element or null if there are no child elements.

Syntax

const element = node.lastElementChild

Example

<ul id="foo">
  <li>First  (1)</li>
  <li>Second (2)</li>
  <li>Third  (3)</li>
</ul>

<script>
const foo = document.getElementById('foo');
console.log(foo.lastElementChild.textContent); // logs: Third (3)
</script>

Polyfill

The code below adds support of lastElementChild() to Document and DocumentFragment in Internet Explorer and Safari.

// Overwrites native 'lastElementChild' prototype.
// Returns array instead of HTMLCollection.
;(function(constructor) {
  if(constructor &&
    constructor.prototype &&
    constructor.prototype.lastElementChild == null) {
    Object.defineProperty(constructor.prototype, 'lastElementChild', {
      get: function() {
        var node, nodes = this.childNodes, i = nodes.length - 1;
        while(node = nodes[i--]) {
          if(node.nodeType === 1) {
            return node;
          }
        }
        return null;
      }
    });
  }
})(window.Node || window.Element);

Specification

Browser compatibility

See also

• The ParentNode and ChildNode pure interfaces.
• Object types implementing this pure interface: Document, Element, and DocumentFragment.