Use index to get the clicked button index
<html> <head> <script type="text/javascript" src="js/jquery-1.3.2.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> $(document).ready(function(){ $("button").click(function(e) { switch ($("button").index(this)) { case 0 : $("div").text("0"); break; case 1 : $("div").text("1"); break; case 2 : $("div").text("2"); break; case 3 : $("div").text("3"); break; } $("span").text("" + value); }); }); </script> </head> <body> <body> <div>A div</div> <button>0</button> <button>1</button> <button>2</button> <button>3</button> <span></span> </body> </html>