title: JavaScript getting an elements class without any libraries
body: <p>I would like to get the value of the <strong>class</strong> attribute for an element using JavaScript.  However in this particular situation I don't have the luxury of library such as YUI, jQuery, etc. and need to stick to the basics.</p>
  
  <p>Specifically, I am looping over a table and want to check the class of the cell.</p>
  
  <p>I tried:</p>
  
  <p><code>var colClass = el.getAttribute('class');</code></p>
  
  <p>and</p>
  
  <pre><code>var colClass = el.class;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>But neither seems to be working.  In the above example, <code>el</code> is set from cells array of a table, such as <code>var el = document.getElementById('myTable').rows[y].cells[y];</code></p>