HTML Code

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html lang="en">

<head>

  <meta charset="utf-8">

  <title>Descendant vs child count</title>

  <style>

    body { font-family: sans-serif; padding: 16px; }

    #output { margin-top: 12px; padding: 12px; background: #eff6ff; border: 1px solid #3b82f6; }

  </style>

</head>

<body>

  <ul class="menu">

    <li>Item 1</li>

    <li>Item 2

      <ul>

        <li>Nested 1</li>

        <li>Nested 2</li>

        <li>Nested 3</li>

      </ul>

    </li>

    <li>Item 3</li>

  </ul>

  <div id="output"></div>

  <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.7.1.min.js"></script>

  <script>

    var desc = $("ul.menu li").length;

    var child = $("ul.menu > li").length;

    $("#output").html(

      "Descendant (space): " + desc + "<br>Child (>): " + child

    );

    console.log("Descendant:", desc, "Child:", child);

  </script>

</body>

</html>

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ul li vs ul > li count (Try It)