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CSS CSS Foundations Selectors Basic Attribute Selectors

Posted by Stein Christensen
Stein Christensen
3,592 Points

Attribute Selectors

Why do you not have to include the tag on class selection ([class] { }) but you have to include the tag on type selectors ( input[type=""] ) ?

2 Answers

James Barnett
James Barnett
39,199 Points

You don't, with attribute selectors, if you include an element it specifies the scope of the selector.

Here are some examples to illustrate on it works:

  • [class] = select any element that has a class attribute
  • input[type="submit"] = select any <input> element of type submit
  • a[class] = select any <a> element that has a class attribute

http://www.htmldog.com/guides/css/advanced/attributeselectors/

Stein Christensen
Stein Christensen
3,592 Points
Stein Christensen
Stein Christensen
3,592 Points

That makes a lot more sense now thank you. Is there a difference between

a .class { }

and

a [class] { }

James Barnett
James Barnett
39,199 Points

The former is only selecting for a class named class and the later is selecting for any class.

On the other hand, these are equivalent are according to select oracle

a .test

and

a [class=~"test"]

You can check out the select oracle and this section on attribute selectors.