$this->EE-> vs. ee()->

Just finished writing my first plugin.

For most of it, I was able to access EE functionality using code in this format (as shown in the current documentation):

ee()->foo->bar();

However, I had to use the older format for one thing:

$this->EE =& get_instance();
$pages = $this->EE->config->item( 'site_pages' );

Because I couldn’t find a reference in the development documentation anywhere for the config class.

Just curious if I missed it, or if this is something you just have to know EE well enough to know where to find this kind of thing.

EDIT: Just in case, I tested this again with

$pages = ee()->config->item( 'site_pages' );

So forget this… Sorry lol