jQuery methods: difference between .submit() vs .trigger('submit')

Question

jQuery allows to trigger a form submission programmatically via either:

• $('.js-form-class-hook').submit();

• $('.js-form-class-hook').trigger('submit');

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Note: My understanding is that .trigger('submit') is to .submit() what .on('submit',function(e){}); is to .submit(function(e){});. In short .trigger('submit') is a more powerfull way than .submit() to programmatically submit forms .

I already know some of the difference between .on('submit',function(e){}); and .submit(function(e){});, see my answer on What's the difference between $(form).submit and $(form).on("submit") in jQuery? , I would like to now understand better the role of .trigger('submit').

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My conclusion: after some research I found out that using .trigger('submit') seems to provide the "only" (although very powerful) advantage of allowing to pass arbitrary data

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Sample usage 1:

This can for instance be used to differenciate a "human" vs "programmatical" form submission.

see live demo (click on Run/Clear in the top-right) on jsbin.com/jivexawixonu/1/edit?html,js,console,output

HTML

<form class="js-form-hook-xyz">
   <button>Submit form</button>
</form>

jQuery

var pleaseConfirmSubmission = function( formElem ){
  // ... some conditions checks
  // if condition met, submit with a flag
  formElem.trigger( "submit" , ['isProgrammaticalSubmission'] );
}


$("body").on("submit", ".js-form-hook-xyz", function(event, isProgrammaticalSubmission) {
  console.log("on form submission: " +  ( isProgrammaticalSubmission || "isHumanAction !" ) );
  if ( !isProgrammaticalSubmission ){ /* JS truthy/falsy value usage */
    event.preventDefault(); /* cancel form submission */
    pleaseConfirmSubmission( $(this) );
  }
});

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Resources:

1. api.jquery.com/submit
2. api.jquery.com/trigger
3. api.jquery.com/on
4. www.inkling.com/read/jquery-cookbook-cody-lindley-1st/chapter-8/recipe-8-5

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Is there any other additional feature provided by .trigger('submit') that I missed ?

Or is "allowing to pass arbitrary data" the only advantage of using .trigger('submit') ?

Answer 1

There is essentially no different between submit() without an argument, and trigger('submit'), in fact submit() with no arguments will eventually return trigger() anyway.

You can prove this by looking at the jQuery Source:

jQuery.fn.submit()

function (data, fn) {
    return arguments.length > 0 ? this.on(name, null, data, fn) : this.trigger(name);
}

So, if an argument is passed to submit(), .on('submit'... will be called, otherwise, .trigger('submit') will be called.

submit() is pretty much a more human-readable way of calling trigger('submit'). There are no special features for either, which one you choose is personal preference.

Note: The same goes for click(), change() etc..

is "allowing to pass arbitrary data" the only advantage of using .trigger('submit') ?

Unless you consider one less function call an advantage, yes, it is.