Editing id vs class vs tag vs pseudo vs. attribute selectors This edit will create a new revision. Your details (optional) Name Email (won’t be displayed; might be used for Gravatar) URL Test case details Title * Published (uncheck if you want to fiddle around before making the page public) Description (in case you feel further explanation is needed)(Markdown syntax is allowed) Comparing the performance difference of varied jQuery 1.7 selectors. With a few little test of grabbing the same using the lovely DOM. The dom tests will have to live with the fact that jQuery has been loaded into the page. This test page contains some dummy HTML (from html-ipsum.com) just to give the page some weight, make the selectors work a little bit. Note that the "Tag" selector is selecting a tag that happens to be unique in the page just to be fair. Are you a spammer? (just answer the question) Preparation code Preparation code HTML (this will be inserted in the <body> of a valid HTML5 document in standards mode) (useful when testing DOM operations or including libraries) <style type="text/css"> .bar { display: none; } </style> <div id="cheese"> <h1> HTML Ipsum Presents </h1> <p> <strong> Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique </strong> senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Vestibulum tortor quam, feugiat vitae, ultricies eget, tempor sit amet, ante. Donec eu libero sit amet quam egestas semper. <em> Aenean ultricies mi vitae est. </em> Mauris placerat eleifend leo. Quisque sit amet est et sapien ullamcorper pharetra. Vestibulum erat wisi, condimentum sed, <code> commodo vitae </code> , ornare sit amet, wisi. Aenean fermentum, elit eget tincidunt condimentum, eros ipsum rutrum orci, sagittis tempus lacus enim ac dui. <a href="#">Donec non enim</a> in turpis pulvinar facilisis. Ut felis. </p> <h2> Header Level 2 </h2> <ol> <li> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. </li> <li> Aliquam tincidunt mauris eu risus. </li> </ol> <blockquote id="foo" class="bar" name="baz"> <p> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus magna. Cras in mi at felis aliquet congue. Ut a est eget ligula molestie gravida. Curabitur massa. Donec eleifend, libero at sagittis mollis, tellus est malesuada tellus, at luctus turpis elit sit amet quam. Vivamus pretium ornare est. </p> </blockquote> <h3> Header Level 3 </h3> <ul> <li> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. </li> <li> Aliquam tincidunt mauris eu risus. </li> </ul> <pre> <code> #header h1 a { display: block; width: 300px; height: 80px; } </code> </pre> </div> <script src="//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1/jquery.min.js"> </script> Include JavaScript libraries as follows: <script src="//cdn.ext/library.js"></script> Define setup for all tests (variables, functions, arrays or other objects that will be used in the tests) (runs before each clocked test loop, outside of the timed code region) (e.g. define local test variables, reset global variables, clear canvas, etc.) (see FAQ) Define teardown for all tests (runs after each clocked test loop, outside of the timed code region) (see FAQ) Code snippets to compare Test 1 Title Async (check if this is an asynchronous test) Code $("#foo"); Test 2 Title Async (check if this is an asynchronous test) Code $("blockquote"); Test 3 Title Async (check if this is an asynchronous test) Code $(".bar"); Test 4 Title Async (check if this is an asynchronous test) Code $("[name='baz']"); Test 5 Title Async (check if this is an asynchronous test) Code $(":hidden"); Test 6 Title Async (check if this is an asynchronous test) Code //$("#foo"); document.getElementById('foo'); Test 7 Title Async (check if this is an asynchronous test) Code document.getElementsByTagName('blockquote') Test 8 Title Async (check if this is an asynchronous test) Code /* Using an DustinDiaz function as fallback where getElementsByClassName isn't supported (ie 6/7 etc); this bit of testing for availability may have an adverse effect.*/ if (typeof document.getElementsByClassName !== 'function') { function getElementsByClass(searchClass, node, tag) { var classElements = new Array(); if (node == null) node = document; if (tag == null) tag = '*'; var els = node.getElementsByTagName(tag); var elsLen = els.length; var pattern = new RegExp("(^|\\s)" + searchClass + "(\\s|$)"); for (i = 0, j = 0; i < elsLen; i++) { if (pattern.test(els[i].className)) { classElements[j] = els[i]; j++; } } return classElements; } } document.getElementsByClassName('bar') Test 9 Title Async (check if this is an asynchronous test) Code // document.getElementsByName() is in the HTML5 spec but is pretty damn old; returns HTML Collection of elements document.getElementsByName('baz') Test 10 Title Async (check if this is an asynchronous test) Code /* Last one felt like a cop out, but the test is crap choice of showing the power of the pseudo selectors/attribute selectors in jQuery so this is a more 'generic' method for attributes. I literally just smashed this out so forgive me >< */ function getElementsByAttribute(strAttText, strAttType) { var aEle = [], node = document, tag = '*', i = 0, j = 0; var els = node.getElementsByTagName(tag); var pattern = new RegExp("(^|\\s)" + strAttText + "(\\s|$)"); for (; i < els.length; i++) { if (pattern.test(els[i].getAttribute(strAttType))) { aEle[j] = els[i]; j++; } } return aEle; } getElementsByAttribute('baz', 'name'); Test 11 Title Async (check if this is an asynchronous test) Code $("#cheese").find("p"); Test 12 Title Async (check if this is an asynchronous test) Code $("#cheese", "p"); Test 13 Title Async (check if this is an asynchronous test) Code var ele = document.getElementById("cheese"), header = ele.getElementsByTagName("p"); Test 14 Title Async (check if this is an asynchronous test) Code /* You only get to play with document.querySelectorAll in IE8+ (and browsers worth caring about) but... document.querySelectorAll(":hidden"); Wont work, its not supposed to. As with most things DOM, if its written in C it should be faster; but hidden is special and theres a valid reason why it wont be caught (read the links below). https://developer.mozilla.org/En/DOM/Document.querySelectorAll Reading for those who give a crap. * http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-selectors/#UIstates * https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=410472 ---- This Test instead uses a method created in 2005 :D */ /* stuff of dreams many years ago. http://dean.edwards.name/my/cssQuery/ */ /* cssQuery, version 2.0.2 (2005-08-19) Copyright: 2004-2005, Dean Edwards (http://dean.edwards.name/) License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/LGPL/2.1/ */ eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return(c<a?'':e(parseInt(c/a)))+((c=c%a)>35?String.fromCharCode(c+29):c.toString(36))};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--)d[e(c)]=k[c]||e(c);k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--)if(k[c])p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c]);return p}('7 x=6(){7 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