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The DOM API is not designed as a JavaScript API (at least originally). It was designed to be language independent and to be more natural for a language like Jav
by afiori 3y ago
The DOM API is not designed as a JavaScript API (at least originally). It was designed to be language independent and to be more natural for a language like Java rather than JavaScript.
The reason for NodeList instead of Array is the same
For example the Event interface definition[0] contains parts like
const unsigned short NONE = 0;
[0] https://dom.spec.whatwg.org/#interface-event https://dom.spec.whatwg.org/#interface-event
- jaffathecake 3y agoThat's used as a constant for eventPhase https://dom.spec.whatwg.org/#ref-for-dom-event-none%E2%91%A2 https://dom.spec.whatwg.org/#ref-for-dom-event-none%E2%91%A2 In modern DOM APIs, it would be a string enum.
- afiori 3y agoI did not mean to disparage the DOM API, I intended to show that the DOM API was not (initially) designed as a Javascript API and was instead expressed in a language independent (but Java inspired) IDL. I would not surprise me if modern addition or revisions to the spec were more JS inspired