jQuery: $("#elementId") != document.getElementById("elementId")

The most natural assumption is that  $ in jQuery is equivalent to document.getElementById. But it is NOT !! Took me a while to figure it out.

$("#elementId")!=document.getElementById("elementId")

$("#elementId") method gives a jQuery object that is always an array of Elements.

So to the get the real DOM element you have to use $("#myElementId")[0] or the more readable $("#myElementId").get(0)