DOM

The Document Object Model (DOM) is a cross-platform and language-agnostic application programming interface (API) that treats HTML, XML, and SVG documents as a tree-structure of objects. It defines the logical structure of documents and the way a document is accessed and manipulated…

Key facts

First appeared
1998
Category
technology
Problem solved
The Document Object Model (DOM) was created to solve the critical problem of inconsistent, proprietary, and browser-specific methods for client-side scripts to interact with and modify web page content. Before DOM, developers struggled with writing dynamic web applications that could run reliably across different browsers due to a lack of a standardized API, making complex interactivity nearly impossible to implement efficiently and universally.
Platforms
Node.js (via JSDOM), Headless browsers, XML/HTML parsers, Web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, etc.)

Related technologies

Notable users

  • Facebook
  • Apple
  • Microsoft
  • Google
  • Every modern web application and website
  • Amazon