Question

I was reading this article about the module Javascript pattern, but I don’t understand what is the benefit of the “Global import”.

What is the difference between:

(function () {

    alert($('#theForm').attr('method'));

} ());

and

(function ($) {

    alert($('#theForm').attr('method'));

} (jQuery));

Both methods has the same effect, so I think I am missing the point here.

What is the point of pass global variables as parameters in the anonymous closure? what are the benefits?

Answer 1

Lots of scripts (such as Prototype and Mootools) also use the $ character. It is therefore sometimes useful to not use that character on a global level. You can do this in jQuery by using jQuery.noConflict(). You then have to use jQuery to do jQuery selections and the like.

If, however, you have a section of code (a “module”, perhaps) that you know will only use jQuery, you can redefine $ for that section of code only using that pattern. The object known as jQuery outside the function is now known as $ inside the function:

(function($) { // the first parameter is known as $
    // inside the function, you can access jQuery by the name $
}(jQuery)); // pass jQuery as the first argument