<pclass="desc"><strong>Description: </strong>End the most recent filtering operation in the current chain and return the set of matched elements to its previous state.</p>
<p>Most of the methods in this chapter operate on a jQuery object and produce a new one, matching a different set of DOM elements. When this happens, it is as if the new set of elements is pushed onto a stack that is maintained inside the object. Each successive filtering method pushes a new element set onto the stack. If we need an older element set, we can use <code>end()</code> to pop the sets back off of the stack.</p>
<p>Suppose we have a couple short lists on a page:</p>
<pre>
<ul class="first">
<li class="foo">list item 1</li>
<li>list item 2</li>
<li class="bar">list item 3</li>
</ul>
<ul class="second">
<li class="foo">list item 1</li>
<li>list item 2</li>
<li class="bar">list item 3</li>
</ul>
</pre>
<p>The <code>end()</code> method is useful primarily when exploiting jQuery's chaining properties. When not using chaining, we can usually just call up a previous object by variable name, so we don't need to manipulate the stack. With <code>end()</code>, though, we can string all the method calls together:</p>
<p>This chain searches for items with the class <code>foo</code> within the first list only and turns their backgrounds red. Then <code>end()</code> returns the object to its state before the call to <code>find()</code>, so the second <code>find()</code> looks for '.bar' inside <code><ul class="first"></code>, not just inside that list's <code><li class="foo"></code>, and turns the matching elements' backgrounds green. The net result is that items 1 and 3 of the first list have a colored background, and none of the items from the second list do.</p>
<p>A long jQuery chain can be visualized as a structured code block, with filtering methods providing the openings of nested blocks and <code>end()</code> methods closing them:</p>
<pre>
$('ul.first').find('.foo')
.css('background-color', 'red')
.end().find('.bar')
.css('background-color', 'green')
.end();
</pre>
<p>The last <code>end()</code> is unnecessary, as we are discarding the jQuery object immediately thereafter. However, when the code is written in this form, the <code>end()</code> provides visual symmetry and closure—making the program, at least to the eyes of some developers, more readable.</p>
</div>
<h3>Examples:</h3>
<divid="entry-examples"class="entry-examples">
<divid="example-0">
<h4>Example: <spanclass="desc">Selects all paragraphs, finds span elements inside these, and reverts the selection back to the paragraphs.</span>
