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JavaScript JavaScript and the DOM (Retiring) Making Changes to the DOM Styling Elements

Posted by francisobrien
francisobrien
2,131 Points

Regular html attributes VS data attributes: What's the difference?

I see I can add a behavior to a HTML element by targeting that element's attribute E.g.

<p>What is Superman's real name?</p>
<button answer="incorrect">Jim Kent</button>
<button answer="correct">Clark Kent</button>

But I can also use a data attribute. E.g.

<button data-answer="incorrect">Jim Kent</button>
<button data-answer="correct">Clark Kent</button>

What is the advantage of using a data-attribute over a regular attribute? Is there any additional functionality available? I don't get why adding data- to the attribute name makes a difference...

Thanks in advance!

1 Answer

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,271 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,271 Points

The "data-..." attributes can be easily accessed in JavaScript using the "dataset" property.

For more details, see the MDN page on Using data attributes.