Question

So which should I use to select elements? I’m using checkbox as just an example, this question refers to all form elements.

Actually while we are at it, which of these are faster:

li:first

or

li:eq(0)

?

Answer 1

From the documentation:

Although, semantically:

$(':checkbox') is equivalent to $('[type=checkbox]')

practically speaking:

Because :checkbox is a jQuery extension and not part of the CSS
specification, queries using :checkbox cannot take advantage of the
performance boost provided by the native DOM querySelectorAll()
method. For better performance in modern browsers, use
[type="checkbox"] instead.

Always read the documentation. It will make your life easier, and ours.