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In the world of web development, understanding the event flow in the Document Object Model (DOM) is a critical skill. Events are the lifeblood of interactive web applications, allowing users to engage with your creations and trigger dynamic behaviors.
In this article, we’ll explore the fundamental concepts of event handling and give you the tools to master this essential aspect of JavaScript programming.
Let’s start with the basics. The DOM is a hierarchical representation of the HTML elements on a web page. When an event occurs, such as a click or a keypress, it travels through this hierarchy, triggering a specific sequence of event handling. This sequence is known as the event flow, and it consists of two main phases: the capturing phase and the bubbling phase.
During the capturing phase, the event starts at the outermost element (the window or document) and works its way down the DOM tree, targeting the specific element where the event occurred. This is followed by the bubbling phase, where the event travels back up the DOM tree, giving each parent element a chance to respond to the event.