difference between .append() and .appendTo()

There is no difference between .append() and .appendTo() functions except the syntax:

$('.target').append('text');

$('text').appendTo('.target');

But they both needed because of chaining and code readability:

$(function(){

    $('.target').append('<div class="element well">.element</div>')

        .css('background-color', 'yellow'); // yellow collor added to .target

    

    $('<div class="element2 well">.element2</div>').appendTo('.target2')

        .css('background-color', 'yellow'); // yellow collor added to .element2

});​

html:

<div class="well target">

    <span class="label label-info">.append() example</span> .target

</div>



<div class="well target2">

    <span class="label label-info">.appendTo() example</span> .target2

</div>

The same difference applies to:

• .prepend() vs .prependTo()
• .before() vs .insertBefore()
• .after() vs .insertAfter()