This morning I am delving into some JavaScript code, and decided once and for all to find out what exactly the difference was between the two functions: bind() and live(). It turns out, there is a very minor but important difference.

According to the jQuery API documentation, bind( action, function ) is used to give an event to all existing matches. On the other hand, live( action, function ) not only gives the event to all existing matches, but all future matches.

So, concluding my thoughts, if you are doing work where you are adding a lot of things to the page — i.e. using AJAX — that need to have an existing action handler applied to them, then you should stick with live(). Otherwise, learn to love bind().

Nick