jQuery Selectors

           These selectors uses CSS syntax to allow page developer to easily identify the elements of page to operate upon with jQuery library methods. For using JQuery library most effectively , you must be familiar with  jQuery selectors.

Syntax pattern of jQuery selector :

$.(selector).methodName();
The selector is a string expression that identify the element on which the the method has to be implemented. For example :
$("p").click();
You can also hide the paragraph as follows :
$("p").hide();
You can also apply the CSS class to any element as :
$("p").addClass('box'); 

Types Of Selectors: 

Uses of basic CSS selector 

The basic selectors are known as 'find selectors' as they are used to find the element within the DOM.
Syntax:
$.(selector/Syntax).methodName();
Given below the uses of Basic CSS Selector according to "syntax" used :

SYNTAX	DESCRIPTION
*	Selects all elements
E	Selects all elements with tag name E.
E F	Selects all elements with tag name F that are descendants of E
E>F	Selects all elements with tag name F that are direct children of E.
E+F	Selects all elements with tag name F that are immediately preceded by a sibling of tag name E.
E-F	Selects all elements with tag name F that are  preceded by any sibling of tag name E.
E : has(F)	Selects all elements with tag name E that have at least one descendant of tag name F.
E .C	Selects all the elements E that have a class name C. Removing C Removing E is identical to *.C
E#i	Selects all the elements E that have an id value of i. Omitting E is identical to *#i.
E[a]	Selects all the elements E  that have an attribute 'a' of any value.
E[a=v]	Selects all the elements E  that have an attribute 'a' whose value is exactly 'v'.
E[a^=v]	Selects all the elements E  that have an attribute 'a' whose value starts with 'v'.
E[a$=v]	Selects all the elements E  that have an attribute 'a' whose value ends with 'v'.
E[a*=v]	Selects all the elements E  that have an attribute 'a' whose value contains 'v'.

Uses of Position Selectors

This selector select the elements according to their position in page. These selectors can be apply to any base selector.(it is denoted by B here). If it is omitted, it is assumed to be *.
Given below the uses of Position Selectors according to "syntax" used :

SYNTAX	DESCRIPTION
B:first	Selects the first element of element B
B:last	Selects the last element of element B
B:first-child	Selects all the elements from B that are first children.
B:last-child	Selects all the elements from B that are last children.
B:only-child	Selects all the element from B that are only children.
B:nth-child(n)	Selects all the element from B that are n-th ordinal children. Starts at 1.
B:nth-child(odd/even)	Selects all the element from B that are even or odd ordinal children. The first child is considered odd(ordinal1)
B:nth-child(Xn+Y)	Selects the Y element from B after every Xth element of B.
B:even	Selects the even elements of B.
B:odd	Selects the odd elements of B.
B:gt(n)	Selects the element after the nth element of B. Starts at 0.
B:lt(n)	Selects the element before the nth element of B. Starts at 0.
B:eq(n)	Selects the nth element defined with in B element.

Uses of jQuery Custom Selector :

This selector select the elements according to their type or some property. These selectors can be apply to any base selector.(it is denoted by B here). If it is omitted, it is assumed to be *.
Given below the uses of Custom Selector according to "syntax" used :

SYNTAX	DESCRIPTION
B:animated	Selects one of elements of B that are currently under the animated control of one of the jQuery animation method
B:button	Selects the elements of B of any button type.
B:checkbox	Selects the elements of B of checkbox type.
B:enabled	Selects the elements of B that are in enabled state.
B:file	Selects the elements of B of file input type.
B:header	Selects the elements of B of header type(H1 to H6).
B:hidden	Selects the elements of B that are hidden.
B:image	Selects the elements of B of image input type.
B:input	Selects form input element from B. i.e. input, select,textarea,button.
B:not(f)	Selects the elements from B that do not match the filter selector specified by f.
B:parent	Selects the elements of B that are parents of non-empty element children
B:password	Selects the elements of B of password type.
B:radio	Selects the elements of B of radio input type.
B:reset	Selects the elements of B of reset input type.
B:selected	Selects the elements of B that are in selected state.
B:submit	Selects the elements of B of submit input type.
B:text	Selects the elements of B of text input type.
B:visible	Selects the elements of B that are not hidden.