Actually the [0] doesn't convert anything, and it doesn't remove or replace
any methods. You could think of it that way, but here's a more accurate way
to look at it:
The jQuery object is an array of DOM elements. (It's not an actual Array
object, but it is an array-like object with [0], [1], etc. and .length
properties.) When you use [0], you are simply getting a reference to the
first DOM element in this array, without affecting the jQuery object itself.
Consider this code:
var $div = $('div.selectable');
var div0 = $div[0];
Now $div is the jQuery object with all of its usual methods, and div0 is the
first DOM element in the jQuery object's array of elements. Doing the
$div[0] didn't have any effect on $div - it still has all of the normal
jQuery methods.
It's very much like this code:
var array = [ 'a', 'b', 'c' ];
var first = array[0];
alert( array.length ); // 3
alert( first.length ); // 1
In this case it's more obvious that doing the array[0] doesn't have any
effect on the original array. It's merely fetching a reference to the first
array element, which happens to be a string.
I hope this doesn't seem too nitpicky! :-) Just trying to help illustrate
how it actually works.
-Mike
> From: Ryura
>
> The glue code is converting your jQuery object.
>
> var text = $('div.selectable')[0].getSelection();
> alert(text);
>
> [0] takes the first element you selected and "removes" the
> jQuery methods, "replacing" them with the usual DOM methods.
