In jQuery, what does $.fn. mean?

Question

In jQuery, what does $.fn. mean? I looked this up on google but couldn't find any concrete examples.

$.fn.something = function{}

Answer 1

It allows you to extend jQuery with your own functions.

For example, $.fn.something = function{} will allow you to use $("#element").something().

$.fn is also synonymous with jQuery.fn which might make your Google searches easier.

See jQuery Plugins/Authoring

Answer 2

See Plugins/Authoring

Answer 3

This has been covered in some detail here:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1755080/why-jquery-do-this-jquery-fn-init-prototype-jquery-fn

But the short of it is that $.fn is an alias for $jQuery.prototype