$(document).ready shorthand

Is the following shorthand for $(document).ready?

(function($){

//some code

})(jQuery);

I see this pattern used a lot, but I'm unable to find any reference to it. If it is shorthand for $(document).ready(), is there any particular reason it might not work? In my tests it seems to always fire before the ready event.

The shorthand is:

$(function() {
    // Code here
});

The shorthand for $(document).ready(handler) is $(handler) (where handler is a function). See here.

The code in your question has nothing to do with .ready(). Rather, it is an immediately-invoked function expression (IIFE) with the jQuery object as its argument. Its purpose is to restrict the scope of at least the $ variable to its own block so it doesn't cause conflicts. You typically see the pattern used by jQuery plugins to ensure that $ == jQuery.

The correct shorthand is this:

$(function() {
    // this behaves as if within document.ready
});

The code you posted…

(function($){

//some code

})(jQuery);

…creates an anonymous function and executes it immediately with jQuery being passed in as the arg $. All it effectively does is take the code inside the function and execute it like normal, since $ is already an alias for jQuery. :D