webkitMatchesSelector

webkitMatchesSelector is a non-standard, vendor-prefixed DOM method that originated in WebKit-based browsers to provide functionality similar to the standard Element.matches. It is called on a DOM element and takes a single string parameter containing a CSS selector. The method returns true if the element would be selected by the given selector in a document, and false otherwise. For example, el.webkitMatchesSelector('.active') checks whether the element would match the .active selector.

Usage and behavior: The method mirrors the behavior of the standard matches method. If the selector is valid and the element would be matched by a querySelectorAll call for that selector, it returns true; otherwise, it returns false. If the selector is invalid, the call may throw a DOMException or a syntax error, depending on the engine and version.

Compatibility and deprecation: webkitMatchesSelector is considered legacy and non-standard. Modern web development typically relies on Element.matches, which has broad cross-browser support and serves the same purpose. In many environments, webkitMatchesSelector remains available as an alias for compatibility, but relying on it is discouraged in favor of matches. For code that must run in older WebKit versions, a fallback strategy can be used by checking for matches first and then falling back to webkitMatchesSelector if needed.

See also: Element.matches, querySelector, CSS selectors, DOM API standards, vendor-prefixed selection methods.