Take the 2-minute tour ×  In the following JavaScript code there
is a dollar sign $. What does it mean?  $(window).bind('load',
function() { share|improve this question  5 Answers 5  up vote
131 down vote accepted  Your snippet of code looks like it's
referencing methods from one of the popular JavaScript libraries
(jQuery, ProtoType, mooTools, and so on).  There's nothing
mysterious about the use of "$" in JavaScript. $ is simply a
valid JavaScript identifier.  JavaScript allows upper and lower
letters, numbers, and $ and _. The $ was intended to be used for
machine-generated variables (such as $0001).  Prototype, jQuery,
and most javascript libraries use the $ as the primary base
object (or function). Most of them also have a way to relinquish
the $ so that it can be used with another library that uses it.
In that case you use "jQuery" instead of "$". In fact, "$" is
just a shortcut for "jQuery".  share|improve this answer This is
a much better answer than the accepted one. +1 –  Paolo
Bergantino Jul 19 '09