Question

<a href='/a01'></a>

If I were to check .href of that using javascript, it would give the full path, instead of /a01.

Using getAttribute does return the full path, however it is much slower than .href. Is there a fast way to get the actual href?

Answer 1

If you’re saying that you only want the path, then use the .pathname property instead of the .href property.

There are also .search and .hash for the querystring and hash tag. There are a number of others as well.

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Another option is…

elem.attributes['href'].value;

…but I’d be surprised if it was quicker. I’m not certain of browser compatibility issues either.

And another few…

elem.attributes.getNamedItem('href').value;
elem.attributes.item('href').value;
elem.getAttributeNode('href').value

If the .value property gives you trouble in older browsers, try nodeValue.