What's the difference between e.preventDefault(); and return false? [duplicate]

This question already has answers here: event.preventDefault() vs. return false (14 answers) Closed 9 years ago.

$("a.avatar").click(function开发者_如何学Go(e){
      e.preventDefault();
      $("#thumbnails").fadeIn();
    });

and

$("a.avatar").click(function(e){
      $("#thumbnails").fadeIn();
          return false;
    });

Both can achieve the same goal for me.

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Returning false from jQuery event handlers is equivalent to calling both, e.preventDefault and e.stopPropagation.

So the difference is that preventDefault will only prevent the default event action to occur, i.e. a page redirect on a link click, a form submission, etc. and return false will also stop the event flow.