JavaScript/jQuery html(null) vs html('')

Question

is there a best way of "clearing" html inside an element using jQuery? I use .html(null) but is .html("") more efficient. And is there an even better/nicer way of achieving this?

possible duplicate of How to remove an element's content with JQuery? — Shawn Chin
– Shawn Chin, Commented May 28, 2012 at 16:00

David Thomas · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-29 19:01:53Z

10

Is there a reason for not just using .empty()?

And, incidentally, if your question is about 'efficiency,' so long as efficiency is broadly comparable with speed, then might I suggest JS Perf for self-testing?

Incidentally, in a JS Perf comparison, with Chromium 18/Ubuntu 11.04, .empty() seems to be consistently the faster approach. References:

Further to the above; if you don't mind using plain ol' native JavaScript, it's even faster (on my Samsung II the DOM runs at ~82k ops/sec, on my desktop (nothing special) in Chromium 18/Ubuntu 11.04, the DOM runs at: ~860k ops/sec, as opposed to .empty() (the next fastest) at 8.4k ops/sec).

A DOM-based approach:

var list = document.getElementsByTagName('ul')[0];
while (list.firstChild) {
  list.removeChild(list.firstChild);
}

JS Perf comparison of all above approaches.

References:

empty().

edited May 29, 2012 at 19:01

answered May 28, 2012 at 15:58

David Thomas

254k53 gold badges382 silver badges421 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

3 Comments

Andreas Over a year ago

With null as value he is using empty - indirectly jsapi.info/jquery/1.7.1/jQuery.fn.html

Ruslan Over a year ago

thanks for your reply, do you know if there is an equivalent for setting empty .val()??

David Thomas Over a year ago

You're very welcome, I'm glad to have been of help =) as to the val() question, then no, I don't believe there is, in that case.

sv_in · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-28 15:58:36Z

1

http://api.jquery.com/empty/

provided by jQuery

answered May 28, 2012 at 15:58

sv_in

14k9 gold badges38 silver badges55 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

JavaScript/jQuery html(null) vs html('')

2 Answers 2

3 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

3 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related