difference between and in jQuery

Question

Could someone take the effort to explain me the difference between $ and $() in jquery?

I know $() is shorthand form of $jQuery() which takes any DOM element and turns it into a jQuery object.

But what I am not sure of is what is $ and how different is it from $(). Kindly enlighten me.

Thanks heaps, Chaitanya

Answer 1

$ sign is just a valid javascript identifier which is used as an alias for jQuery. Prototype, jQuery, and most javascript libraries use the $ as the primary base object (or function). Most of them also have a way to relinquish the $ so that it can be used with another library that uses it.

Answer 2

this and $(this) refers to the same element. The only difference is the way they are used. 'this' is used in traditional sense, when 'this' is wrapped in $() then it becomes a jQuery object and you are able to use the power of jQuery .

Answer 3

JavaScript: It is a major scripting programming language that is used to make websites more responsive and interactive. It is one of the pivoted parts alongside HTML and CSS which are used to create web pages. If HTML & CSS decorates and designed the web-pages so, Javascript makes the web pages dynamic(we can say it gives them life). JavaScript is a major client-side language. It’s not only confined to websites development but also used in many desktop and server programs ( Node.js is the best-known example) and Some databases, like MongoDB and CouchDB, also use JavaScript. Whenever your browser parses a web page, its responsibility is to create a tree-structure presentation in memory.

jQuery: JQuery is a framework for javaScript which developed from JavaScript. It is the most popular JavaScript library invented by John Resign and was released in January 2006 at BarCamp NYC. It is a free, open-source library and It’s a fast, concise, and rich-featured JavaScript library and also has cross-browser compatibility. The purpose of jQuery is to make life easier for the masses so that they can easily develop websites and browser-based applications using javaScript. In a concise manner, we can say that the “JQuery is a library to provide better client-side web page development” environment to the developer with the help of its feature-rich library.

• DOM manipulation: DOM elements can be easily traversed, modified.
• Animations Lots of built-in features for animations.
• HTML event handling and manipulation.
• Ajax is much simpler with an easy-to-use API that works across a multitude of browsers.
• CSS manipulation
• Has a high-level UI widget library.
• Cross-browser support: work well on browsers like Chrome, Opera, etc.
• Lightweight: Only 19kb in size.
• And other common utilities