Web APIs Issue Tracker wrote:
ISSUE-110: Do we need a singular method for getting just one element
http://www.w3.org/2005/06/tracker/webapi/issues/110
There are significant performance benefits to using the singular method
when only one element is desired [1] and also there are several use cases:
* Selecting the first element with either ID [2]
document.selectElement("#foo, #bar")
* Selecing a single element to modify, where you know you only need a
single element. e.g. This could be the event handler for for a change
event of a form control.
function handler(evt) {
var ctrl = event.target;
var parent = ctrl.parentNode;
var errMsg = parent.selectElement(".error");
...
// Check the validity of the form control
// and update the errMsg appropriately
}
* It's useful where you know only single element can be returned. e.g.
document.selectElement("#foo>p:first-child");
There's probably a few more use cases too. Given these reasons, I think
(unless there are any objections) we can resolve and close this issue,
in favour of retaining both methods.
[1] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-webapi/2007Feb/0024.html
[2] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-webapi/2007Feb/0029.html
--
Lachlan Hunt
http://lachy.id.au/
