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Software Engineering vocabulary · Web, Mobile and Interface Development

DOM

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

/dɑːm/abbreviationCore term

In software engineering, DOM means: Document Object Model: the tree of objects a browser builds from a page's HTML, which JavaScript can read and change while the page is open.

In Turkish: DOM, belge nesne modeli

How it is used

Pronounced as one word, 'dom'. Developers update, query and manipulate the DOM; frameworks such as React use a 'virtual DOM' to work out what to change on the page.

Example sentences

  1. The script runs before the DOM is ready, so it can't find the button.

  2. Avoid changing the DOM directly when you use React.

Common collocations

  • update the DOM
  • DOM element
  • DOM tree
  • virtual DOM
  • manipulate the DOM
  • JavaScriptThe programming language that runs in every web browser and makes pages interactive; with Node.js it also runs on servers.
  • elementA single building block of an HTML page, such as a paragraph, image or button, usually written as an opening tag, content and a closing tag.
  • eventSomething that happens in the browser and that code can react to, such as a click, a key press, a form submission or the page finishing loading.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Web, Mobile and Interface Development

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