23rd March 2021 - 22 minutes read time
When I first heard the term "Shadow DOM" I had to laugh at the name. I had visions of a cloak and dagger HTML element that would only be seen on the dark web. Or some sort of nefarious shadow site that was the after effect of a hack. In reality, this is quite a useful bit of technology that has a number of applications, although it does need a fairly modern browser to be able to use it.
Shadow DOM is part of the web components strategy, which includes custom elements and HTML templates. These give developers the power to create custom tools and experiences that are encapsulated away from other parts of the code.
In this article I will go though what the shadow DOM is, how to use it, and in what situations it comes in handy.
