What Is jQuery?

Date First Published: 24th September 2022

Topic: Web Design & Development

Subtopic: Web Development

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 6/10

Learn more about what jQuery is in this article.

jQuery is an open-source 'write less, do more' JavaScript library used to simplify JavaScript programming and make it easier for users to perform tasks on their websites by taking a lot of the common tasks that require a large number of lines of code to perform and binding them into methods that can be run with a single line of code. jQuery can be implemented by linking to a copy of the jQuery JavaScript file in a HTML webpage. Most websites link to the library hosted by Google on the official jQuery site as the visitor may have already downloaded and cached the file, but some may host their own copy of jQuery.

Implementing jQuery will allow a webpage to perform any jQuery function supported by the library, including processing form data, modifying text and other elements, DOM manipulation, updating information on a page in realtime, JSON parsing, AJAX calls, performing animations, and more. For example, adding the following line below to a HTML page will load the jQuery library:

jQuery is extensible using plugins. There are lots of plugins available for jQuery and all the user needs to do is download the plugin and customise it to suit their needs. Plugins cover a range of functions, including dynamic lists, AJAX helpers, XML and XSLT tools, drag and drop, cookie handling, and more. Also, it has cross-browser support, meaning that developers do not have to worry about the differences between different web browsers as different web browsers render HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in different ways. Instead of having to write custom functions for each browser, a single jQuery function can be used that will work in all web browsers. This simplifies the coding process and is one of the reasons why jQuery is widely used. jQuery can also work with server-side scripting languages, such as PHP and ASP to access data from a database.

Advantages and Disadvantages Of jQuery

• It is open-source, meaning that is freely useable by anyone and does not require payment in order for it to be used. That is the biggest advantage.
• It is maintained by a huge community, meaning that if a user has an issue, they can turn to them to get some help.
• It boosts productivity as it reduces the amount of code needed to perform tasks and multiple tasks can be performed with just one line.
• Cross-browser support. jQuery helps develop websites that are supported on multiple web browsers instead of performing well on one web browser and malfunctioning on others.
• It is extensible. People can develop their own plugins or use third-party plugins for additional functionality.

• It uses up a lot of bandwidth. The jQuery is over 200 KB in size and is constantly getting larger with updates. Because most websites do not use all parts, storing the file on a website will use up a lot of bandwidth.
• The abstraction of jQuery hides the complex parts of JavaScript, making it harder to learn JavaScript.

Usage

As of August 2022, jQuery is used by 77% of the 10 million most popular websites. Web analysis indicates that jQuery is the most widely used JavaScript library with at least 3-4 times more usage than any other JavaScript library. A lot of big companies, such as Google, Microsoft, and Netflix use jQuery.

History

jQuery was released in January 2006 at BarCamp NYC by John Resig. It came from the earlier cssQuery library, which was created by Dean Edwards. It is currently maintained by a team of developers led by Timmy Wilson. It was originally licensed under the CC BY-SA 2.5 and relicensed to the MIT licence in 2006. By the end of 2006, it was both licensed under GPL and MIT licences. In 2012, the GPL license was dropped. and it is now only licensed under the MIT licence.