jQuery .next()

Given a jQuery object that represents a set of DOM elements, the .next() method allows us to search through the immediately following sibling of these elements in the DOM tree and construct a new jQuery object from the matching elements.

The method optionally accepts a selector expression of the same type that we can pass to the $() function. If the immediately following sibling matches the selector, it remains in the newly constructed jQuery object; otherwise, it is excluded.

Consider a page with a simple list on it:

<ul>
 <li>list item 1</li>
 <li>list item 2</li>
 <li class="third-item">list item 3</li>
 <li>list item 4</li>
 <li>list item 5</li>
</ul>

If we begin at the third item, we can find the element which comes just after it:

$( "li.third-item" ).next().css( "background-color", "red" );

The result of this call is a red background behind item 4. Since we do not supply a selector expression, this following element is unequivocally included as part of the object. If we had supplied one, the element would be tested for a match before it was included.