Using the dollar ($) alias in plugins
When we write jQuery plugins, we must assume that the jQuery library is loaded. We cannot assume, however, that the dollar ($
) alias is available. Recall from Chapter 3, Handling Events, that the $.noConflict()
method can relinquish control of this shortcut. To account for this, our plugins should always call jQuery methods using the full jQuery name or internally define $
themselves.
Especially in larger plugins, many developers find that the lack of the dollar ($
) shortcut makes code more difficult to read. To combat this, the shortcut can be locally defined for the scope of the plugin by defining a function and immediately invoking it. This syntax for defining and invoking a function at once, often referred to as an Immediately Invoked Function Expression (IIFE), looks like this:
(($) => { // Code goes here })(jQuery);
The wrapping function takes a single parameter to which we pass the global jQuery
object. The parameter is named $
, so within...