Question

How can I get jQuery to return the native DOM elements it encapsulates?

Answer 1

When you find elements with jQuery, you can get them with the “get” function:

var regularElement = $('#myElementId').get(0);

Inside a “.each()” function, the “this” pointer refers to a “real” element:

$('input.special').each(function() {
  var type = this.type;
  this.value = "exploding balloon";
  // etc
})

Using jQuery doesn’t make Javascript “different.” It is Javascript, and the DOM is still the DOM.