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Web Development vocabulary · JavaScript, Frameworks and Tooling

Event listener

Meaning in web development, with examples

nounCommon term

In web development, event listener means: A function that waits for a specific event on an element, such as a click or a key press, and runs when that event happens.

In Turkish: olay dinleyicisi, event listener

How it is used

Added with addEventListener() and removed with removeEventListener(). Forgotten listeners can cause memory leaks or code that runs twice. 'Event handler' is used for almost the same idea.

Example sentences

  1. Add one event listener to the form instead of one to every input.

  2. The modal closes twice because two event listeners are attached.

Common collocations

  • add an event listener
  • remove an event listener
  • attach a listener
  • scroll listener
  • 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.
  • DOMDocument 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.
  • 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.

This word in other fields

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

More terms: JavaScript, Frameworks and Tooling

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