Difference Between textContent and innerHTML

There are various methods used in web development to change the text or add additional elements to an HTML element's content. TextContent and innerHTML are two frequently used properties for changing an HTML element's content. Although these two qualities might appear to be identical, they have distinct behaviours and applications.

The text content of an element and all of its descendants can be set or retrieved using the textContent attribute. Without any HTML tags, it merely provides the text information. In contrast, the innerHTML property sets or retrieves an element's HTML content, including all HTML tags and their associated attributes. By adding new elements or modifying the attributes of existing ones, innerHTML enables you to edit an element's structure as well as its text.

What is TextContent?

In web development, textContent is a property of an HTML element that represents the text content of the element and all its descendants. When you use the textContent property, you can get or set the text content of an HTML element, without including any HTML tags or their attributes. For example, if you have an HTML element like this −

<p>This is some <em>text</em> content.</p> 

The textContent property would return the string "This is some text content." without any markup tags. If you set the textContent property to a new value, any existing text content or child elements will be removed, and the new text will be added as plain text. You can access the textContent property using JavaScript, like this −

var element = document.getElementById("myElement"); 

// get the text content of the element
var text = element.textContent; 

// set the text content of the element
element.textContent = "New text"; 

When you wish to change the text content of an element without changing its HTML structure or formatting, the textContent attribute can be helpful. Due to the fact that it does not evaluate or run any script or markup, it is also quicker and more secure than using the innerHTML attribute.

Advantages of TextContent

• Quick and effective − manipulating the text content of an element can be done more quickly and effectively using textContent than with other techniques like innerHTML.

• Cross-browser compatibility − textContent is a dependable and consistent approach to access or set the text content of an element because it is supported by all popular browsers.

Disadvantages of TextContent

• Text content alone − textContent doesn't support HTML elements or attributes; it simply lets you access or set an element's text content. When you need to add or change HTML components or attributes within the text content, this can be a hindrance.

• Lack of formatting − When you want to keep or adjust the styling of the text content, textContent has the drawback of not preserving any formatting or styling that has been given to the text content of an element.

What is InnerHtml?

An HTML element's innerHTML property displays all of the element's descendants' markup content, including all HTML tags and attributes. You can alter both the text content and the HTML structure and formatting by using the innerHTML property to access or set the HTML content of an HTML element. For instance, if you have the following HTML element:

<div id="myElement"><p>This is some <em>text</em> content.</p></div> 

The p and em tags as well as their properties would be returned as a string by the innerHTML property, which would return the complete content of the div element. Any current content or child elements will be deleted if the innerHTML property is changed, and any new material will be put as HTML markup in its place. JavaScript allows you to access the innerHTML property in the following way −

var element = document.getElementById("myElement"); 

// get the HTML content of the element
var html = element.innerHTML;  

// set the HTML content of the element
element.innerHTML = "<p>New content</p>";  

When you need to add or alter HTML elements or attributes within the content of an element, the innerHTML property comes in handy. Nevertheless, it can also be a security issue when working with user-generated content or unreliable sources because it permits arbitrary HTML code to be run or evaluated.

Advantages of InnerHTML

• Flexibility − innerHTML is a flexible and effective approach to change the content and structure of an HTML page since it lets you add, remove, or modify HTML elements and attributes inside the content of an element.

• Easy to use − Simple and straightforward, innerHTML just requires a string of HTML code to be provided as a value to the property.

• Cross-browser compatibility − Because innerHTML is supported by all popular browsers, it is a dependable and consistent method of modifying an element's HTML content.

Disadvantages of InnerHTML

• Security hazards − innerHTML can provide security problems since it permits the execution or evaluation of arbitrary HTML code, which can be a weakness when working with user-generated content or unreliable sources.

• Performance − Because innerHTML needs the browser to parse and re-render an element's HTML content, it might be slower and less effective than other approaches, such textContent, when dealing with big or complex HTML structures.

• No error checking − The HTML code that is supplied to innerHTML is not checked for mistakes or validated, which may result in unexpected outcomes or problems if the code is incorrect or corrupt.

Difference Between TextContent and InnerHTML

The following table highlights the major differences between textContent and innerHTML −

Property	textContent	innerHTML
Represents	An element's textual content and all of its descendants	The HTML code of a given element, along with any associated HTML tags and characteristics
Return type	Plain text	HTML code
Includes	No	Yes
Escapes HTML	Yes	No
Security	As no script or markup is evaluated or executed, it is more secure.	Because it can run any script or HTML markup, it is less secure.
Performance	Faster	Slower
Use case	altering an element's text content without changing its HTML structure or formatting	Changing an element's HTML content and structure, including by adding, removing, or changing HTML elements and their attributes

Conclusion

There are two methods for modifying the content of an HTML element: textContent and innerHTML, each of which has their pros and cons. textContent is a safe and cross-browser compatible method for quickly and effectively changing the text content of an element. Contrarily, innerHTML offers a flexible and potent means of modifying the content and structure of an HTML page by allowing you to add, remove, or edit HTML elements and attributes within the content of an element.