What is the DOM in JavaScript?

The **DOM**, or **Document Object Model**, is a programming interface for web documents. It represents the structure of an HTML or XML document as a tree of objects, where each node corresponds to parts of the page such as elements, attributes, and text. In simple terms, the DOM is how your web browser understands and organizes the content on a webpage, enabling scripts like JavaScript to access and manipulate it dynamically. When you hear about "manipulating the DOM" with JavaScript, it means using JavaScript code to interact with this structured representation of the webpage. For example, JavaScript can select elements (like paragraphs, buttons, or images), change their content, modify their styles, add or remove elements, and respond to user actions such as clicks or keypresses. This interaction allows webpages to become interactive and dynamic rather than static HTML documents. Under the hood, JavaScript accesses the DOM through a set of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) provided by the browser, such as `document.getElementById()`, `document.querySelector()`, or methods to create, update, or remove nodes. By manipulating the DOM, developers can build rich user experiences, update content on the fly, validate forms, create animations, and much more—all without needing to reload the entire webpage.