title: $(this).prop('property') vs. this.property
body: <p>Given jQuery's philosophy of <strong><em>write less, do more</em></strong>, I'm always surprised when I see this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>$(this).prop('checked')
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>&hellip; instead of this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>this.checked
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Looking at the latest jQuery source, <code>prop()</code> provides convenience for these two <em>gotchas</em>:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li><code>$(elem).prop('for')</code> is equivalent to <code>elem.htmlFor</code>.</li>
  <li><code>$(elem).prop('class')</code> is equivalent to <code>elem.className</code>.</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>It also normalizes <code>tabIndex</code> to:</p>
  
  <ul>
   <li>0 for tabbable elements without a tab index.
   <li>-1 for non-tabbable elements.
  </ul>
  
  <p><code>prop()</code> is certainly useful for setting properties for multiple elements at once, and for chaining properties on a single element.</p>
  
  <p>But is there any advantage (other than idiomatic) to use <code>prop()</code> to set or retrieve a single property on a single element except when normalizing <code>tabIndex</code> – specifically when you have a reference to the element (such as <code>this</code> in a callback)?</p>