this.each needed for *every* plugin?

this.each needed for *every* plugin?

Hi
Apologies if this question is a little basic... The standard pattern for plugin development seems to involve
  1. this.each(function(){...plugin code...})
in order that each element in the jQuery collection may be operated on.

In this net.tutsplus tutorial this pattern is used, but within the loop, elements with IDs are created. (I think I've seen this elsewhere).

Is there not a contradiction here?

A follow-on question is, if you a have a situation where it only makes sense for your plugin to be called on a jQuery collection with a length of 1, is it kosher to omit the standard this.each loop mentioned above?

Thanks for any thoughts