documentlinks

DocumentLinks refers to the browser API accessed as document.links, a property of the Document interface that returns a live HTMLCollection of all hyperlink elements in the document that have an href attribute. The collection typically includes both anchor elements (<a href="...">) and area elements (<area href="...">); elements without an href are not included.

The collection is dynamic, meaning it updates automatically as the DOM changes. If links are added, removed, or altered to include or drop an href, the length and contents of document.links reflect those changes in real time. This makes it convenient for batch operations over all links without repeatedly querying the DOM.

Common uses include counting links, iterating to attach listeners, or applying bulk modifications. Example: for (var i = 0; i < document.links.length; i++) { console.log(document.links[i].href); }. Because it is a live collection, it can be more efficient for certain tasks than repeatedly querying the document.

Notes and considerations include cross-browser compatibility, which is good in all major browsers today. For static collections, developers may prefer document.querySelectorAll('a[href], area[href]') since that returns a static NodeList. Conversely, getElementsByTagName('a') returns all anchor elements regardless of whether they have an href, which is a related but broader collection. See also HTMLLinkElement and related anchor elements for more context.