Question

What is the difference between the three samples below and which one is better (if any)?

$("#x span").hide();

$("#x").find("span").hide();

$("span", "#x").hide();

Answer 1

They will all match the same thing; the best one is based on context. I would use the first example unless I had a variable pointing to an existing set. Then I would obviously use the find() method on it.

The old $(selector, context) (your third example) isn’t seen much these days, probably because it translates to $(context).find(selector) behind the scenes anyway (and its easier to read that way).