The Document Object Model (DOM) is a programming interface specification of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that enables a programmer to create and modify HTML pages and XML documents as full-fledged program objects. Currently, HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and XML (Extensible Markup Language) can be used to express a document in terms of a data structure. By defining documents as program objects, their contents and data can be "hidden" within the object, helping to ensure control over who can manipulate the document. As objects, documents can carry with them the object-oriented procedures called methods. DOM is a strategic and open effort to specify how to provide programming control over documents. It was inspired in part by the advent of the new HTML capabilities generally called dynamic HTML and as a way to encourage consistent browser behavior with Web pages and their elements.
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