title: Javascript/jQuery variable, what is the proper way to use a var?
body: <p>I am sorry if this is a dumb or easy question but I am fairly new to Javascript/jQuery. The past month I have really started to delve into the land of scripting and have seen two different, maybe three, ways people use <code>var</code> in Javascript/jQuery.</p>
  
  <p>The way I use a var is like so,</p>
  
  <pre><code>var nav = $('nav');
  
  nav.hide();
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>A very common way I have seen people use vars,</p>
  
  <pre><code>var nav = $('nav');
  
  $(nav).hide();
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>From the answers,</p>
  
  <pre><code>var $nav = $('nav');
  
  $nav.hide();
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>From what I have learned from searching through Google is what you typed inside the variable is saved there to later be used. I then figured if I wrote the $() around the var when I was using it, it would duplicate the $(). Yet both ways seem to work so I know it does not duplicate it and therefore can tell that it is the same thing.</p>
  
  <p>Is there a correct way to use <code>vars</code> or are both equally the same and it doesn't matter?</p>
  
  <p>I apologize again if this is a known answer and will be happy to remove it if someone can show me the original question but I couldn't find anything on it.</p>
  
  <p><em>A great bit of information from an answer that I didn't mark as the answer but I find to be very important.</em></p>
  
  <pre><code>var element = document.createElement("div");
  $("body").append(element);
  $(element).hide(); 
  </code></pre>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>In the example above, $(element) is necessary, because it takes a DOM
    object and converts it to a jQuery selector. jQuery functions only
    work on jQuery selectors, so you couldn't simply do element.hide().</p>
  </blockquote>