Associating data to a DOM element for jQuery

Question

In a previous life, I might have done something like this:

<a href="#" onclick="f(311);return false;">Click</a><br/>
<a href="#" onclick="f(412);return false;">Click</a><br/>
<a href="#" onclick="f(583);return false;">Click</a><br/>
<a href="#" onclick="f(624);return false;">Click</a><br/>

Now with jQuery, I might do something like this:

<a class="clicker" alt="311">Click</a><br/>
<a class="clicker" alt="412">Click</a><br/>
<a class="clicker" alt="583">Click</a><br/>
<a class="clicker" alt="624">Click</a><br/>

<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
    $(".clicker").bind("click", function(e) {
        e.preventDefault();
        f($(this).attr("alt"));
    });
</script>

Except that using the alt attribute to pass the data from the DOM to jQuery feels like a hack, since that's not its intended purpose. What's the best practice here for storing/hiding data in the DOM for jQuery to access?

Answer 1

You could use an id attribute like "clicker-123" then parse out the number. I usually do that or use the 'rel' attribute.

So, in essence, there is no better way to do it that I know of. I hope this thread proves me wrong.