What's the reasoning behind the name first-child?

Although I may receive many down votes, I am still curious to hear your opinions.

If you have ever encountered the following code:

<div>
    <p>Paragraph1</p>
    <p>Paragraph2</p>
</div>
<div>
</div>

literally speaking, one might expect div:first-child to target <p>Paragraph1</p> because it is the first child of the div. However, in reality, it selects the very first div element in the HTML. Wouldn't it be more logical to name this selector as :first or perhaps :first-sibling?

Answer №1

One interesting feature of jQuery is its unique selector: :first. However, it's important to remember that while :first-child continues to search for elements after the first match, :first does not. This discrepancy highlights why :first may not always be the most appropriate name.

Answer №2

As mentioned in Mozilla's detailed guide, it highlights that:

A CSS pseudo-class serves as a keyword included in selectors to indicate a specific state of the targeted element.

This pseudo-class essentially alters the behavior of the existing selector, resulting in a subset of elements that would match the original criteria. Therefore, using div:first-child will exclusively target the first child element within a div.

Answer №3

The selector :first-child indicates that the element is the first child of its parent. Personally, I find :first to be too general and :first-sibling to be quite similar to :first-child in terms of ambiguity.

Answer №4

Why is it not :first? What does "first" refer to in this context? The first div on the entire page or just within this section? Using :first-child provides clarity by specifying that it applies to the document, a div, or a ul, depending on the structure.

Your interpretation of 'taken literally' seems more aligned with div > :first-child, as you are selecting an element inside a div.

If we interpret div:first literally, it would always select the first div encountered on the page.

Likewise, interpreting div:first-child literally indicates "A div that is the first child of its parent." It's important to remember that pseudo-classes describe the specific element they target.

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