Fotiman - 3:13 pm on Jan 8, 2013 (gmt 0)

Is there a preference for the ready() syntax?

If noConflict is not called, then generally you would do something like this:
$(document).ready(function() {...});

func calls usually return 'undefined' unless the function is defined BEFORE the call

Correct. You must always define a function before calling it. But it shouldn't be complicated, and external files shouldn't impact it (unless they're being loaded asynchronously).