$(..).is() could work as $(..).length !== 0

$(..).is() could work as $(..).length !== 0

What if $(..).is() would return whether the jQuery collection contains anything.

if ($item.is()) {
      // $item.length !== 0
}

What do you think? I think that makes more sense than the code below.

if ($item.length !== 0) {
      // Yes, $item exists
}