Target first level <li>s and not the nested <li>s

Question

I have the following HTML:

<ul>
  <li>A
    <ul>
      <li>subsection</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>B
    <ul>
      <li>subsection</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>C
    <ul>
      <li>subsection</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
</ul>

With jQuery, how do I target the FIRST level of <li>s?

For example, I need to make the font bold on hover to the <li>s with the letters A, B and C, but NOT have that font style applied to the nested <li>s (with the name subsections).

Here's an initial jsfiddle DEMO if you'd like to use it.

Thanks.

EDIT--

Solution:

CHILD SELECTORS, that's the answer.

No need for jQuery, this can be done using CSS.

Here's the updated DEMO

EDIT-- Here's a more clear demo

Thanks,

Answer 1

Have a container <div> with a class, and use the > selector. Lets say your container div's class is "myclass":

.myclass ul li {
   ...this will affect both levels of li.
}

.myclass > ul > li {
   ...this will only affect the first level.
}

.myclass > ul > li > ul > li {
   ...this will only affect the second level.
}

Note: the > selector does not work in IE6 and below when used as a CSS selector. It does work in all other browsers though, including IE7 and IE8, and when used in JQuery, it works in all browsers supported by jQuery, including IE6.

Answer 2

You could do this:

$('ul > li:not(:has(ul))');

But it would be better to give your top level <ul> an ID so you can target it with a valid CSS selector:

$('#topUL > li')

Answer 3

CHILD SELECTORS, that's the answer.

No need for jQuery, this can be done using CSS. Target the first-level li elements with a selector:

ul > li {
    font-weight: bold;
}

And then undo the styling for deeper li elements:

ul > li li {
    font-weight: normal;
}

Here's the updated DEMO.