Attribute and Pseudo Selectors

Attribute and Pseudo Selectors: free step-by-step lesson with examples, common mistakes, and interview tips — part of jQuery Tutorial on Toolliyo Academy.

8 min read Updated 8/23/2026

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jQuery Tutorial · Lesson 7 of 100

Attribute and Pseudo Selectors

Setup & DOM → Events Effects AJAX → Perf & Integrate → Ship & Projects

Setup & DOM · 1 — Select · ~6 min · Setup and Selectors

What is this?

Attribute selectors match properties like [type="email"] or [data-role]. Pseudo selectors such as :first, :last, :odd, :even, and :eq(n) pick positions in the matched set.

Why should you care?

Tables and long forms in QueryVerse need zebra rows and field-type targeting without hand-rolled loops.

See it live — copy this example

Examples include the jQuery 3.7 CDN. Paste into an HTML file or use Run Example to preview.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>QueryVerse</title>
  <style>
    body { font-family: system-ui, sans-serif; margin: 1.25rem; }
    .box { padding: .75rem; border: 1px solid #ccc; border-radius: 8px; margin: .5rem 0; }
    .muted { color: #666; }
    button { margin-right: .35rem; margin-top: .35rem; }
    input, select, textarea { margin: .25rem 0; }
    table { border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; }
    th, td { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: .4rem .55rem; text-align: left; }
    .hidden { display: none; }
    .row-odd { background: #f7f7f7; }
    .active { font-weight: 700; }
    .toast { background: #111; color: #fff; padding: .5rem .75rem; border-radius: 6px; }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <form id="signup" class="box">
    <input type="text" name="fullName" placeholder="Name">
    <input type="email" name="email" placeholder="Email" data-role="contact">
    <input type="password" name="pwd" placeholder="Password">
  </form>
  <table id="grid">
    <tr><td>R1</td></tr><tr><td>R2</td></tr>
    <tr><td>R3</td></tr><tr><td>R4</td></tr>
  </table>
  <p id="out" class="muted"></p>
<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.7.1.min.js"></script>
<script>
$(function () {
  var email = $('input[type="email"]').attr('placeholder');
  var contact = $('input[data-role="contact"]').attr('name');
  $('#grid tr:odd').addClass('row-odd');
  var firstCell = $('#grid tr:first td').text();
  $('#out').text('emailPh=' + email + ' · name=' + contact + ' · first=' + firstCell);
});
</script>
</body>
</html>

Run Example »

Edit the code below and click Run to see the result in Toolliyo’s live editor.

Code

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>QueryVerse</title>
  <style>
    body { font-family: system-ui, sans-serif; margin: 1.25rem; }
    .box { padding: .75rem; border: 1px solid #ccc; border-radius: 8px; margin: .5rem 0; }
    .muted { color: #666; }
    button { margin-right: .35rem; margin-top: .35rem; }
    input, select, textarea { margin: .25rem 0; }
    table { border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; }
    th, td { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: .4rem .55rem; text-align: left; }
    .hidden { display: none; }
    .row-odd { background: #f7f7f7; }
    .active { font-weight: 700; }
    .toast { background: #111; color: #fff; padding: .5rem .75rem; border-radius: 6px; }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <form id="signup" class="box">
    <input type="text" name="fullName" placeholder="Name">
    <input type="email" name="email" placeholder="Email" data-role="contact">
    <input type="password" name="pwd" placeholder="Password">
  </form>
  <table id="grid">
    <tr><td>R1</td></tr><tr><td>R2</td></tr>
    <tr><td>R3</td></tr><tr><td>R4</td></tr>
  </table>
  <p id="out" class="muted"></p>
<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.7.1.min.js"></script>
<script>
$(function () {
  var email = $('input[type="email"]').attr('placeholder');
  var contact = $('input[data-role="contact"]').attr('name');
  $('#grid tr:odd').addClass('row-odd');
  var firstCell = $('#grid tr:first td').text();
  $('#out').text('emailPh=' + email + ' · name=' + contact + ' · first=' + firstCell);
});
</script>
</body>
</html>

Result