Why is wrapping elements so much quicker with jQuery elements

Question

Check out the test: http://jsperf.com/wrap-with-jq

var s = $('<span />').text('my span');



s.wrap('<div id="myWrap" class="myClass"></div>').parent();

8,073 ops/sec

87% slower

s.wrap($('<div />', {
  'id': 'myWrap',
  'class': 'myClass'
}).parent());

72,955 ops/sec

Is there a reason this is so much faster creating a new element with jQuery? I would have assumed it was slower due to having to wrap an element with jQuery.

Answer 1

It takes a long time to parse that string. By giving it an object full of properties, you're doing the bulk of the work for it, resulting in much faster times.