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

Justin Oswald
Justin Oswald
5,969 Points

I cant seem to find the right answer.

.

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

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?

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.