Java tutorial
//package com.java2s; import org.w3c.dom.Node; import org.w3c.dom.NodeList; public class Main { public static Node getFirstElementChild(Node parentNode) { Node element = null; if (!isElement(parentNode)) { return null; } else { NodeList childList = parentNode.getChildNodes(); for (int nodeIx = 0; nodeIx < childList.getLength(); nodeIx++) { Node node = childList.item(nodeIx); if (isElement(node)) { return node; } } } return null; } public static boolean isElement(Node node) { return node != null && (node.getNodeType() == Node.ELEMENT_NODE || node.getNodeType() == Node.DOCUMENT_NODE); } }