Assuming you are using the plib, stuff there are two sets of functions (and have been for a while).
The newer ones take an argument to indicate which one of the serveral (for example) uarts you wish to control and the older ones where you have the device as part of the function name.
The newer ones relay on some fairly large static const data tables to map from device number to registers and bits, so if very memory constrained the older ones are better, but if you have plenty of flash then the newer ones make maintainance easier.
Regards, Dan.