Difference between $(this) and event.target?

There is a difference between $(this) and event.target, and quite a significant one. While this (or event.currentTarget, see below) always refers to the DOM element the listener was attached to, event.target is the actual DOM element that was clicked. Remember that due to event bubbling, if you have

<div class="outer">
  <div class="inner"></div>
</div>

and attach click listener to the outer div

$('.outer').click( handler );

then the handler will be invoked when you click inside the outer div as well as the inner one (unless you have other code that handles the event on the inner div and stops propagation).

In this example, when you click inside the inner div, then in the handler:

• this refers to the .outer DOM element (because that's the object to which the handler was attached)
• event.currentTarget also refers to the .outer element (because that's the current target element handling the event)
• event.target refers to the .inner element (this gives you the element where the event originated)

The jQuery wrapper $(this) only wraps the DOM element in a jQuery object so you can call jQuery functions on it. You can do the same with $(event.target).

Also note that if you rebind the context of this (e.g. if you use Backbone it's done automatically), it will point to something else. You can always get the actual DOM element from event.currentTarget.

this is a reference for the DOM element for which the event is being handled (the current target). event.target refers to the element which initiated the event. They were the same in this case, and can often be, but they aren't necessarily always so.

You can get a good sense of this by reviewing the jQuery event docs, but in summary:

event.currentTarget

The current DOM element within the event bubbling phase.

event.delegateTarget

The element where the currently-called jQuery event handler was attached.

event.relatedTarget

The other DOM element involved in the event, if any.

event.target

The DOM element that initiated the event.

To get the desired functionality using jQuery, you must wrap it in a jQuery object using either: $(this) or $(evt.target).

The .attr() method only works on a jQuery object, not on a DOM element. $(evt.target).attr('href') or simply evt.target.href will give you what you want.