JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, Fourth Edition

Name

Node.removeChild( ) — remove (and return) the specified child of this node

Availability

DOM Level 1 Core

Synopsis

Node removeChild(Node oldChild) 
    throws DOMException;

Arguments

oldChild

The child node to remove.

Returns

The node that was removed.

Throws

This method may throw a DOMException with the following code values in the following circumstances:

NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED_ERR

This node is read-only and does not allow children to be removed.

NOT_FOUND_ERR

oldChild is not a child of this node.

Description

This method removes the specified child from the childNodes[] array of this node. It is an error to call this method with a node that is not a child. removeChild( ) returns the oldChild node after removing it. oldChild continues to be a valid node and may be reinserted into the document later.

Example

You can delete the last child of the document body with this code:

document.body.removeChild(document.body.lastChild);

See Also

Node.appendChild( ), Node.insertBefore( ), Node.replaceChild( )