When to use setAttribute vs .attribute= in JavaScript?

Question

Has a best-practice around using setAttribute instead of the dot (.) attribute notation been developed?

E.g.:

myObj.setAttr         


        

Answer 1

This looks like one case where it is better to use setAttribute:

Dev.Opera — Efficient JavaScript

var posElem = document.getElementById('animation');
var newStyle = 'background: ' + newBack + ';' +
'color: ' + newColor + ';' +
    'border: ' + newBorder + ';';
if(typeof(posElem.style.cssText) != 'undefined') {
    posElem.style.cssText = newStyle;
} else {
    posElem.setAttribute('style', newStyle);
}