Question

In jQuery, which is faster to execute: $("li").last() or $("li:last-child") ?

Answer 1

Though both are different in what they do but here is result I got from jsperf:

http://jsperf.com/li-last-vs-li-last-child

$(“li”).last()

28,752
±8.59%
fastest

And

$(“li:last-child”)

21,930
±4.01%
24% slower

So $("li").last() is faster.

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FYI $("li").last() selects the absolute last element whereas $("li:last-child") selects every last element in a series of grouped elements. That also makes it obvious that $("li").last() should be faster which it is.