Remove all children from a XML Node PHP DOM

Question

Hi, I want to remove all children from a XML Node using PHP DOM, is there any difference between:

A)

while ($parentNode->hasChildNodes()){
   $parentNode->removeChild($parentNode->childNodes->item(0));
 }

AND

B)

$node->nodeValue = "";

I prefer the second one, seems like I am getting the same result but I'm not sure.

Thanks, Carlos

Answer 1

removeChild() is the more "proper" way of doing things. While you can set the contents of that node to "" and this will acquire the desired effect, calling removeChild() is much more apparent as to what is going on. However, it would be my assumption that in a minuscule level, nodeValue() is slightly more efficient.

Answer 2

I think that with the second method, the node is empty but still exists. So I'd prefer the first one.