Why is it possible to query jQuery('div') like an array?

Question

I got another question regarding jQuery\'s architecture. $(\'div\') constructs a new jQuery object:

$(\'div\') instanceof jQuery; /         


        

Answer 1

jQuery objects are "array-like" objects. Consider the code below:

document.forms.length; // returns 1;
document.forms[0]; // returns a form element.
document.forms.join(", "); // throws a type error. this is not an array.
typeof document.forms; // returns "object"

Modifying your code, you could achieve this same affect:

var a = 
{
    0: 'a',
    1: 'b',
    2: 'c',
    length: 3,
    method: function() {
        return "test";
    }
};