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What is event delegation and when should I use it for dynamic lists?

Asked on Sep 24, 2025

Answer

Event delegation is a technique in JavaScript where a single event listener is added to a parent element to manage events for multiple child elements. This is especially useful for dynamic lists where elements are added or removed frequently.

<!-- BEGIN COPY / PASTE -->
        document.getElementById('parentList').addEventListener('click', function(event) {
            if (event.target && event.target.nodeName === 'LI') {
                console.log('List item', event.target.textContent, 'was clicked!');
            }
        });
        <!-- END COPY / PASTE -->

Additional Comment:

In this example, an event listener is attached to the "parentList" element.
The listener checks if the event target is an "LI" element.
This approach is efficient for handling events on dynamically added list items.
Event delegation reduces memory usage and improves performance by minimizing the number of event listeners.

✅ Answered with JavaScript best practices.

Ask any question about JavaScript here... and get an instant response.

What is event delegation and when should I use it for dynamic lists?

Asked on Sep 24, 2025

Answer

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