Angular Interview Practice

What is the difference between innerHTML and textContent?

1. innerHTML is faster than textContent

2. innerHTML includes HTML tags, while textContent ignores them

3. textContent can only be used with numbers

4. textContent is deprecated, but innerHTML is not

The correct answer is: innerHTML includes HTML tags, while textContent ignores them

The correct answer highlights a key distinction between the two properties in the context of working with the Document Object Model (DOM) in web development. The property innerHTML allows you to retrieve or set HTML content, including any HTML tags contained within an element. This means that when you use innerHTML, the content you get back can be a mix of text and HTML structure, permitting the inclusion of formatting, links, and other HTML elements. On the other hand, textContent provides only the text contained within an element, effectively stripping out any HTML tags. When you use textContent, you get plain text without any formatting or HTML structure, making it useful when you just want to work with the textual information. Understanding this difference is crucial when manipulating the DOM, as using innerHTML can introduce security risks such as cross-site scripting (XSS) if not handled properly, while textContent is safer in terms of handling plain text.