Techniques for encoding node locations are provided. In some examples, a node in a hierarchy such as a document object model (DOM) may be expressed as a location path from the root node of the hierarchy to the node. Each node on the location path may be encoded using a mapping between the type and/or index of the node and a set of characters such as ASCII characters. The encoding of each node on the path be concatenated to form the encoded location path. The encoding seeks to minimize the length of the encoded location path. For example, in an embodiment, a single ASCII character may be used to encode both the type and the index of a node. In an embodiment, breakpoint locations may be encoded using methods provided to reduce storage and computing resource required.