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I've gotten this idea in my head that i shouldn't use a libraries variable, if the variable name begins with '_', as it is standard to write private variables that way.
But now i'm thinking i'm taking that too literally. If my choices are to use "_var" that points to a HTML element or add a unique attribute to said element, so that i can query the DOM to find it, should i just use the variable?
Do other people avoid private variables and if so, would you say this is too much effort?
When I stick an _ at the start of a variable name I'm saying this is not part of the public API. I reserve the right to change this later.
If you're ok with me breaking your stuff with an update then fine. Go ahead. If you want stability then make sure the public API doesn't support what you're trying to do before you sneak in the back door.
And, as Thomas Junk points out, if the API doesn't support your needs, feel free to make some noise about it. You might be doing something I simply didn't think of.
Personally I'd consider it a bad habit for two reasons: one, that it's good to be deliberate and verbose about what you need access to, so you're adding ids / attributes to elements when and where you need them, and two, libraries generally have a specific public API intended for users, whereas "private" variables ( not just "real" private variables ) are intended to be under-the-hood, subject-to-change without breaking the way the API is meant to behave.
Document.getElementById is so fast that I can't imagine ever reversing my above advice for performance reasons, even if you're writing JS for a toaster, although assigning the result to a variable is just good DRY if you're going to be doing much with the element after you've grabbed it.
TL;DR: Yes. :D
