Last Call on CSS Selectors API, Comment Now

By Marisa Peacock | Published Nov 25, 2008

The W3C Web Applications Working Group is currently developing standard APIs for client-side Web Application development and is soliciting comments.

In June 2008, the WebAPI Working Group and Web Applications Working Group merged to form the new Web Applications (“WebApps”) Working Group. Chartered to maximize team and member resources, the working group works to develop the active deliverables from both groups, as well as add selected new deliverables relevant to market needs.

The group recently published the Last Call Working Draft of “Selectors API,” which are widely used in CSS, and are patterns that match against elements in a tree structure. The Selectors API specification defines methods for retrieving element nodes from the DOM by matching against a group of selectors. It is often desirable to perform DOM operations on a specific set of elements in a document. These methods simplify the process of acquiring specific elements — especially, compared with the more verbose techniques defined and used in the past.

This work also includes both documenting existing APIs such as XMLHttpRequest and developing new APIs in order to enable richer web applications. With the ubiquity of Web browsers and Web document formats across a range of platforms and devices, many developers are using the Web as an application environment, such as reservation systems, online shopping or auction sites, games, multimedia applications, maps, chat applications, and interactive design applications.

More information about the W3C working draft and instructions about how to submit comments is available.