Question

I just got a script to work by changing

$('#thisElement').show();

to

$('#thisElement').css({'display':'block'});

where #thisElement had been loaded as having display:none;

Is there a fundamental difference in these two expressions?

Answer 1

Assuming you have this at the beginning:

<span id="thisElement" style="display: none;">Foo</span>

when you call:

$('#thisElement').show();

you will get:

<span id="thisElement" style="">Foo</span>

while:

$('#thisElement').css({'display':'block'});

does:

<span id="thisElement" style="display: block;">Foo</span>

so, yes there’s a difference.