Can the :not() pseudo-class have multiple arguments?

Have you ever been in a situation where you needed to select elements using CSS, but exclude specific elements from the selection? One popular solution for this is to use the :not() pseudo-class. It allows you to target elements that do not match a specific selector. But can :not() have multiple arguments? Let's explore this question and find some easy solutions.

The Problem

Let's look at an example scenario. Suppose you have a form with several input elements, including checkboxes and radio buttons. You want to select all input elements except checkboxes and radio buttons, and apply some CSS styles to them.

In the given context, the user tried to achieve this using the following code snippet:

form input:not([type="radio"], [type="checkbox"]) {
  /* css here */
}

Despite the logical-looking code, it doesn't seem to work as expected. So, what's the issue here?

The Explanation

The problem lies in the structure of the :not() pseudo-class. It accepts only one simple selector as its argument. In this case, multiple arguments are provided within square brackets [type="radio"], [type="checkbox"], but this syntax is not handled by :not().

Instead, we need to group the selectors inside the :not() pseudo-class using a compound selector. A compound selector consists of multiple selectors concatenated without any whitespace between them. By doing so, we can effectively select multiple elements to be excluded.

The Solution

To achieve the desired result, we need to modify the code using a compound selector. The correct selector would be:

form input:not([type="radio"]):not([type="checkbox"]) {
  /* css here */
}

Here, two :not() pseudo-classes are used consecutively to exclude both radio buttons and checkboxes. Now the CSS styles will be applied to all input elements except checkboxes and radio buttons within the form.

Conclusion

In this blog post, we addressed the issue of whether the :not() pseudo-class can have multiple arguments. Although it cannot accept multiple arguments directly, we learned how to achieve the same effect by using compound selectors within the :not() pseudo-class.

Remember, when faced with a similar situation, always group selectors together without whitespace inside the :not() pseudo-class to exclude multiple elements. With this knowledge, you can confidently style your web pages without any hassle.

So go ahead, give it a try and see the magic yourself! And don't forget to share your experience in the comments below. Happy coding! ✨🎉

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Can the :not() pseudo-class have multiple arguments?