Locate the parent element that has the smallest amount of space taken up by its child elements

Question

Locate the parent element that has the smallest amount of space taken up by its child elements

My goal is to determine which container, among several <divs>, each containing multiple child <divs> of varying sizes, has the smallest amount of space covered by the child elements.

<div class="container" id="first">
    <div class="small">This is a message</div>
    <div class="medium">This is a message</div>
    <div class="large">This is a message</div>
</div>

<div class="container" id="second">
    <div class="large">This is a message</div>
    <div class="large">This is a message</div>
    <div class="large">This is a message</div>
</div>

Sample styles:

.container { width: 1000px; height: 1000px }

.small { width: 100px; height: 50px }
.medium { width: 200px; height: 100px }
.large { width: 400px; height: 200px }

Background: On a notice board platform where users can post messages (child <div>) within parent containers (<div>), I aim to identify the container with the most free space.

I require assistance with the algorithm, as I am confident in my ability to code it afterward.

javascript html css

Answer 1

Answer №1

To determine the area, simply multiply the offsetWidth of an element by its offsetHeight.

Start by declaring two variables: smallest, to store the smallest element, and smallestArea, to store the area of the smallest element.

Next, target all elements with the container class and iterate through each one. Calculate the area (by multiplying the offsetWidth and offsetHeight of the element's children) and compare it to smallestArea. If the current area is smaller, update the values of smallest and smallestArea accordingly.

By the end of the loop, smallest will hold the element with the smallest area.

const containers = document.querySelectorAll('.container');

var smallest;
var smallestArea;

containers.forEach(e => {
  let area = [...e.children].reduce((a,b) => a += b.offsetHeight * b.offsetWidth, 0);
  if (!smallestArea || area < smallestArea) {
    smallest = e;
    smallestArea = area;
  }
})

console.log(smallest)

.container{width:1000px;height:1000px}.small{width:100px;height:50px}.medium{width:200px;height:100px}.large{width:400px;height:200px}

<div class="container" id="first">
  <div class="small">This is a message</div>
  <div class="medium">This is a message</div>
  <div class="large">This is a message</div>
</div>

<div class="container" id="second">
  <div class="large">This is a message</div>
  <div class="large">This is a message</div>
  <div class="large">This is a message</div>
</div>

Answer 2

To determine the area, simply multiply the offsetWidth of an element by its offsetHeight.

Start by declaring two variables: smallest, to store the smallest element, and smallestArea, to store the area of the smallest element.

Next, target all elements with the container class and iterate through each one. Calculate the area (by multiplying the offsetWidth and offsetHeight of the element's children) and compare it to smallestArea. If the current area is smaller, update the values of smallest and smallestArea accordingly.

By the end of the loop, smallest will hold the element with the smallest area.

const containers = document.querySelectorAll('.container');

var smallest;
var smallestArea;

containers.forEach(e => {
  let area = [...e.children].reduce((a,b) => a += b.offsetHeight * b.offsetWidth, 0);
  if (!smallestArea || area < smallestArea) {
    smallest = e;
    smallestArea = area;
  }
})

console.log(smallest)

.container{width:1000px;height:1000px}.small{width:100px;height:50px}.medium{width:200px;height:100px}.large{width:400px;height:200px}

<div class="container" id="first">
  <div class="small">This is a message</div>
  <div class="medium">This is a message</div>
  <div class="large">This is a message</div>
</div>

<div class="container" id="second">
  <div class="large">This is a message</div>
  <div class="large">This is a message</div>
  <div class="large">This is a message</div>
</div>

Answer 3

Answer №2

If you want to find the container with the smallest area covered by its child elements, you can make use of offsetWidth, offsetHeight, and reduce.

For example, I've included an additional container with three children - two small and one medium.

To identify the container and its size that has the least area covered, we can iterate through all containers' children using reduce method.

.container {
  width: 1000px;
  height: 1000px;
}

.small {
  width: 100px;
  height: 50px;
}

.medium {
  width: 200px;
  height: 100px;
}

.large {
  width: 400px;
  height: 200px;
}

<div class="container" id="first">
  <div class="small">This is a message</div>
  <div class="medium">This is a message</div>
  <div class="large">This is a message</div>
</div>

<div class="container" id="second">
  <div class="large">This is a message</div>
  <div class="large">This is a message</div>
  <div class="large">This is a message</div>
</div>

<div class="container" id="third">
  <div class="small">This is a message</div>
  <div class="small">This is a message</div>
  <div class="medium">This is a message</div>
</div>

Answer 4

If you want to find the container with the smallest area covered by its child elements, you can make use of offsetWidth, offsetHeight, and reduce.

For example, I've included an additional container with three children - two small and one medium.

To identify the container and its size that has the least area covered, we can iterate through all containers' children using reduce method.

.container {
  width: 1000px;
  height: 1000px;
}

.small {
  width: 100px;
  height: 50px;
}

.medium {
  width: 200px;
  height: 100px;
}

.large {
  width: 400px;
  height: 200px;
}

<div class="container" id="first">
  <div class="small">This is a message</div>
  <div class="medium">This is a message</div>
  <div class="large">This is a message</div>
</div>

<div class="container" id="second">
  <div class="large">This is a message</div>
  <div class="large">This is a message</div>
  <div class="large">This is a message</div>
</div>

<div class="container" id="third">
  <div class="small">This is a message</div>
  <div class="small">This is a message</div>
  <div class="medium">This is a message</div>
</div>

Locate the parent element that has the smallest amount of space taken up by its child elements

Answer №1

Answer №2

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