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JavaScript JavaScript and the DOM (Retiring) Getting a Handle on the DOM Selection Review

Posted by Justin Oswald
Justin Oswald
5,969 Points

I cant seem to find the right answer.

.

Matthew Long
Matthew Long
28,407 Points

Which question?

Justin Oswald
Justin Oswald
5,969 Points

sorry about that...

How would you select the body element using document.getElementsByTagName, and store it in the variable body?

(Hint: Don't forget that this method returns a collection, not a single element.)

const body =_______________________

2 Answers

Matthew Long
Matthew Long
28,407 Points
Matthew Long
Matthew Long
28,407 Points

This question wants you to use getElementsByTagName() to select the body. "Elements" being plural is good indication that this will select a collection of elements. And since we're interested in the "first" body element you can select it using an index of 0.

const body = document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0];
Justin Oswald
Justin Oswald
5,969 Points

thank you! how did you know that we were looking for the first body element?

Emily Coleman
Emily Coleman
7,137 Points
Emily Coleman
Emily Coleman
7,137 Points

Justin Oswald Matthew Long I have the same question--how did you know to select the first one?

Jake Salo
Jake Salo
13,175 Points

There is generally only ever 1 body tag on a webpage. I cannot think of a reason to have more than one... Therefore, when selecting the body tag using this method, it will always be the element at index 0.