Understanding ev.currentTarget and ev.target in JavaScript Event Handling
Learn the difference between ev.currentTarget and ev.target, two essential properties in JavaScript event handling.
Before diving into the specifics of ev.currentTarget and ev.target, let’s briefly review how event handling works in JavaScript.
When an event occurs, such as a button click or a mouseover, an Event object is created. This object contains information about the event, including which element was interacted with, the type of event, and various other properties. Event listeners are functions that are triggered when a specified event occurs on a target element.
Here’s a simple example of an event listener:
document.querySelector('button').addEventListener('click', function(ev) {
console.log(ev.target);
});In this example, when the button is clicked, the event listener logs the ev.target to the console.
What is ev.target?
The ev.target property refers to the element that triggered the event. It represents the most specific element in the DOM that initiated the event. This is particularly useful when you need to know exactly which element was interacted with.
