jquery/javascript: function(e){.... what is e? why is it needed? what does it actually do/accomplish?

Question

$('#myTable').click(function(e) {
    var clicked = $(e.target);
    clicked.css('background', 'red');
});

Can someone explain this to me, and explain why e is needed, and what it actually does..

Answer 1

Using e is just a short for event. You can pass any variable name you desire.

// would work just the same
$('#myTable').click(function(anyothername) {
    var clicked = $(anyothername.target);
});

You can check out more on jQuery's handling of events.