from http://eloquentjavascript.net/chapter12.html

newElement.js

function dom(name, attributes) {
  var node = document.createElement(name);
  if (attributes) {
    forEachIn(attributes, function(name, value) {
      setNodeAttribute(node, name, value);
    });
  }
  for (var i = 2; i < arguments.length; i++) {
    var child = arguments[i];
    if (typeof child == "string")
      child = document.createTextNode(child);
    node.appendChild(child);
  }
  return node;
}

function setNodeAttribute(node, attribute, value) {
  if (attribute == "class")
    node.className = value;
  else if (attribute == "checked")
    node.defaultChecked = value;
  else if (attribute == "for")
    node.htmlFor = value;
  else if (attribute == "style")
    node.style.cssText = value;
  else
    node.setAttribute(attribute, value);
}