Fiddling with HTML and JavaScript, I know that `createElement()' should be used to create a new HTML element, and it is only possible to do so with XHTML documents. So, I was surprised when I found out that I can do `new Option([text[, value[, defaultSelected[, selected]]]])' to create a new HTML Option element to be added to an HTML Select element. The next question that followed will be: who standardizes the arguments to the constructor of an HTML Option element.

I had navigating through http://w3.org and http://w3schools.com in vain to find the answer when I also found someone in the same situation: http://www.coderanch.com/t/120551/HTML-JavaScript/Option-Constructor. Unfortunately, the answer is not there.

But, googling a bit further landed me on http://docs.sun.com/source/816-6408-10/option.htm. It says that an HTML Option element can be created either by the constructor or by the HTML tag. Browsing through the other elements described on http://docs.sun.com/source/816-6408-10/contents.htm under `Chapter 1 Objects, Methods, and Properties' of `Part 1 Object Reference', I found that most of the other elements can be created only by the corresponding HTML tags and only the HTML Option element that differs by allowing a construction from its constructor.

Now reading the history of JavaScript on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javascript, it is clear that JavaScript originated from Netscape and Sun. Considering the fact that http://w3.org and http://w3schools.com make no allusion to the construction of an HTML Option element through its constructor, I conclude that the construct `new Option([text[, value[, defaultSelected[, selected]]]])' is not the standard way to construct an HTML Option element in favor to `createElement()', and that the standard that standardizes the arguments of the construct can be found in the Sun website. It is titled `Client-Side JavaScript Reference'.

Keywords: javascript create new option element constructor argument createElement