Is it correct to pass model reference directly to HTML element?

Question

Is it correct to pass model reference directly to HTML element?

window.car = {
   color: "blue",
   maxSpeed: 200
 }
var element = $("<div>");
car.$element = element;
element[0]._model = car;

$("") creates a new jQuery element. JQuery has wrapped elements saved inside in keys 0,1,2 ... so [0] return first wrapped HTMLelement. _model is only name of reference variable.

Answer 1

Use jQuery's data() method for that. Adding new properties directly to DOM nodes may run into problems and is considered harmful.

Answer 2

maybe you could attach the object to a data-model attribute instead of attaching it directly as a dom node property (it could be destructive), just using

$(element[0]).data('model', car);