Info

Most dynamic websites use innerHTML because they think it's faster. But is it? This compares hand-optimised DOM and innerHTML along with a sugared DOM and Handlebars templated version.

Preparation code

<script type="text/javascript">
"use strict";

var data = {
    isSelected: true,
    isActive: false,
    href: 'http://www.google.com',
    total: 4,
    displayDate: '28th December 2011',
    text: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.',
    preview: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.'
};

var genDOM = function ( data ) {
    var doc = document,
        div = doc.createElement( 'div' );
    
    div.className = 'Foo' +
        ( data.isSelected ? ' selected' : '' ) +
        ( data.isActive ? ' active' : '' );
    
    var label = doc.createElement( 'label' ),
        input = doc.createElement( 'input' );
    input.setAttribute( 'type', 'checkbox' );
    input.checked = !!data.isSelected;
    label.appendChild( input );
    div.appendChild( label );
    
    var button = doc.createElement( 'button' );
    button.className = 'button';
    button.setAttribute( 'title', 'A title' );
    button.textContent = 'The button text';
    div.appendChild( button );
    
    var a = doc.createElement( 'a' );
    a.setAttribute( 'href', data.href );
    
    var span = doc.createElement( 'span' );
    span.className = 'lorem' +
        ( data.total > 1 ? ' ipsum' : '' );
    
    var span2 = doc.createElement( 'span' );
    span2.className = 'dolores';
    span2.setAttribute( 'unselectable', 'on' );
    span2.appendChild( doc.createTextNode( data.text ) );
    span.appendChild( span2 );
    
    if ( data.total > 1 ) {
        span2 = doc.createElement( 'span' );
        span2.className = 'total';
        span2.setAttribute( 'unselectable', 'on' );
        span2.textContent = '(' + data.total + ')';
        span.appendChild( span2 );
    }
    a.appendChild( span );
    if ( data.yes ) {
        span = doc.createElement( 'span' );
        span.className = 'yes';
        span.textContent = '*';
        a.appendChild( span );
    }
    
    span = doc.createElement( 'span' );
    span.className = 'text';
    span.setAttribute( 'unselectable', 'on' );
    if ( data.total > 1 ) {
        span.appendChild( doc.createTextNode(  data.text ) );
    }
    a.appendChild( span );
    
    var time = doc.createElement( 'time' );
    time.setAttribute( 'unselectable', 'on' );
    time.textContent = data.displayDate;
    time.setAttribute( 'title', data.displayDate );
    a.appendChild( time );
    
    span = doc.createElement( 'span' );
    span.className = 'preview';
    span.setAttribute( 'unselectable', 'on' );
    span.textContent = data.preview;
    a.appendChild( span );
    
    div.appendChild( a );
    
    return div;
};
</script>

Test runner

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genDOM( data );

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Revisions

You can edit these tests or add even more tests to this page by appending /edit to the URL. Here’s a list of current revisions for this page:

• Revision 7: published on 23rd February 2012
• Revision 8: published by Alex Sexton on 23rd February 2012
• Revision 9: published on 23rd February 2012
• Revision 14: published on 11th July 2012
• Revision 15: published by Eamon Nerbonne on 29th November 2012
• Revision 16: published on 30th November 2012
• Revision 17: published by Eamon Nerbonne on 30th November 2012
• Revision 18: published on 30th November 2012
• Revision 23: published 6 days ago

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