Why wrap a DOM element in jQuery if doesn't simplify things? (Example from jQuery Cookbook)
<p>I came across this example in the O'Reilly <em>jQuery Cookbook</em> (recipe 3.1):</p>

<pre><code>var urls = [];
$("div#post a[href]").each(function(i){
    urls[i] = $(this).attr('href');
});
alert(urls.join(","));
</code></pre>

<p>I understand that <code>$().each(fn)</code> runs the function in the context of the DOM element selected.  What I don't understand is: <strong>Why wrap the DOM element in a jQuery object?</strong></p>

<p>It seems to me like <code>urls[i] = this.href;</code> would have been the more straightforward approach here.</p>

<ul>
<li>Is it a best practice to always wrap
DOM elements in jQuery before
touching them?</li>
<li>Or is the author doing
this simply to show us that it can be
done?</li>
<li>Or is it done for some other
reason altogether?</li>
</ul>
