Creating DOM elements in jQuery

Question

Let's say we have the following JavaScript/jQuery code below

function createElement(i, value) {     return $('<div>', { id: "field" + i, text: value}); } 

I have a div with an id of "container" and then I do:

var c=$("container"); c.append(createElement(1, "hello, world!"); 

Now I've got 2 questions

1. Does the createElement function use jQuery to return an HTML string that gets appended to container or does it dynamically create a DOM element that gets appended to the container?

2. I'm unfamiliar with this kind of jQuery where you actually create the HTML string (or DOM element) via the $() selector. I tried looking for the documentation on this subject in jQuery's website but I couldn't find it. Can somebody point me in the right direction?

Answer 1

1. It creates the DOM element on the fly, and appends that.

2. http://api.jquery.com/jQuery/#jQuery2

Answer 2

1. In fact it creates the DOM element + it returns a jQuery object which contains your DOM element you just created.
2. Dogbert was right about this, the doc is here