Protractor "by.css()" vs "$()" Dollar Sign vs "$$()" 'Bling Bling'
$ and $$ are just convenient shortcuts.
$("selector") is an alternative for element(by.css("selector")).
$$("selector") is an alternative for element.all(by.css("selector")).
FYI, quote from the source code:
ElementFinder.prototype.$ = function(selector) { return this.element(webdriver.By.css(selector));};ElementArrayFinder.prototype.$$ = function(selector) { return this.all(webdriver.By.css(selector));};And the actual commit that initially made it happen.