Most correct way to select option in <select> box

Question

I know there are multiple ways to select a particular option from a using jQuery:

1. $select.val(\"someValue\")
2. $option.attr(\"selected\"

Answer 1

The most used way is $select.val("someValue"), this is the official method in the documentation for setting a value of any input, so it'll be the most optimized one as well as they hit performance areas.

For #2, yes it satisfies this, for #3...it's short and still makes your intent very explicit.

That being said, the fastest way, if you're setting thousands of select elements is the $select[0].selectedIndex = 1 route...you can't get faster than native DOM properties. When setting the value of one though (unless it has lots of items, in which case again go with .selectedIndex) the speed should be so far it doesn't matter between any of the three.