Gray's Anatomy
November 19, 1998
The classic biology text, a cornerstone reference for
students of the human composition, sets out to detail
the components which make up the human organism; form
and function. This Cartesian approach assumes that if we
understand the characteristic properties of each building
block we can understand the whole. More specifically,
if we know how to modify (fix, improve, etc.) the components,
we can modify the whole in a targeted way.
Quite similarly, the Document Object Model sets out to map
the Web page for developers, as Gray's Anatomy
maps the body for doctors. Broken down into its own components,
the DOM details the characteristic properties of
each element of a Web page, thereby detailing how we might
manipulate these components and, in turn, manipulate
the page. There is an important difference between the two
references, however: while Gray's Anatomy is
a descriptive source, subject to the design implemented by
Nature, the Document Object Model is prescriptive, as
it defines what components we may or may not modify, and
how, as decided by a panel of developers.
The crux of this difference is that, unlike the components
of the human body, the inventory of components which
make up a web page are rather arbitrarily defined. Simply put,
one panel of developers may decide to break the
Web page down into a certain Set X of components while
another panel may prefer to reduce a page into Set Y of
components. Perhaps these sets overlap to some degree, but
that, too, is arbitrary.
So, while Gray's Anatomy speaks usefully to all human
bodies, a particular DOM does not necessarily apply
to a particular Web page. Whereas human corpi are necessarily
compatible, web pages are not, because web browsers
are not. Microsoft and Netscape do not share the same DOM
between their two browsers and, as a result, the anatomy
of web pages differs between them as well.
The Document Object Model Dissected
The Document Object Model Dissected
Master of your DOM
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