The key concept of jQuery plugins lies in extending the jQuery API by making their functionality accessible as a method on jQuery Composite Collection Objects. A jQuery plugin is simply a function that is defined as a new method on the $.fn
object, which is the Prototype Object that every jQuery Collection Object inherits from.
$.fn.simplePlugin101 = function(arg1, arg2/*, ...*/) { // Plugin's implementation... };
By defining a method on the $.fn
object, we are actually extending the core jQuery API itself, since this makes the method available on all created jQuery Collection Objects from that point onwards. As a result, after a plugin has been loaded in a web page, its functionality is available as a method on every object returned by the $()
function:
$('h1').simplePlugin101('test', 1);
The main convention of the jQuery plugin API is that the jQuery Collection Object that the plugin was invoked on is made available to the plugin's method as its execution...