Lesson 7: Ethers JS ".provider" only on read calls, why so?

[0xCardiE]

So this is not unique to Lesson 7 but I wonder why do we use .provider when reading contract but it's not needed when writing to it from JavaScript. For example:

When we want to read balance we use
await fundMe.provider.getBalance(fundMe.address)
but when we write we dont use ".provider"
await fundMe.withdraw()

I find this odd visually and also makes me question why is it needed for read actions and not for write?

[krakxn]

First question: When we use .provider we are using the set of methods given to us by Ethers: for more info click here

Second question: For await fundMe.withdraw() we do not need to use Ethers. Why? Because you probably got an instance of the FundMe contract in fundMe via Ethers/deploying it, so, we can directly use the functions inside the FundMe contract (as fundMe has an instance of it) by the dot notation. So, simply, withdraw() here is from our main FundMe contract, whereas the getBalance() is derived from Ethers.

Hope this answers your doubts

[0xCardiE]

Sorry for my ignorance :) somehow I didnt get that getBalance is NOT from my smart contract. This makes perfect sense.
Withdraw is from my smart contract and getBalance is just ethers method that gets balance for addresses.

thank you