JQuery: Check if element exists alongside '.remove()'

Question

I know you can check if an element exists with $('div').length, but when an element is destroyed using .remove(), .length still reports the div exists. How can I find whether or not it actually exists?

if ($('div').length) { 
  alert('yes') 
} else { 
  alert('no') 
}

Answer 1

By exists, you mean you want to see if it exists in the dom? Check to see if "html" is an ancestor:

var $myDiv = $(".myDiv");
$myDiv.closest("html").length;  // returns 1
$myDiv.remove();
$myDiv.closest("html").length;  // returns 0

Or use .is("html *"). It returns a boolean, which is handy:

var $myDiv = $(".myDiv");
$myDiv.is("html *"); // returns true
$myDiv.remove();
$myDiv.is("html *"); // returns false