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suraj kumar
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jQuery UI Tutorial for Beginners: Build Interactive Web Apps

Web applications today are expected to be fast, interactive, and visually appealing. One of the easiest ways to achieve this without reinventing the wheel is by using jQuery UI Tutorial. It is a curated set of user interface interactions, effects, widgets, and themes built on top of the jQuery JavaScript library. For beginners, jQuery UI provides a ready-to-use toolkit to add powerful features like drag-and-drop, resizable elements, date pickers, accordions, and more.

In this tutorial, we will walk you through the basics of jQuery UI, explain its core features, and show you how to build simple, interactive web apps step by step.

What is jQuery UI?

jQuery UI is a library built on top of jQuery that provides:

  • Interactions (Drag, Drop, Resize, Select, Sort)
  • Widgets (Accordion, Tabs, Dialog, Datepicker, Autocomplete, etc.)
  • Effects (Animations, Hide/Show, Explode, Bounce, etc.)
  • Themes (Customizable with ThemeRoller)

Instead of writing complex JavaScript, you can quickly use these features by importing jQuery UI and applying them to HTML elements.

Why Use jQuery UI?

  1. Saves Development Time – Pre-built widgets and interactions.
  2. Cross-Browser Compatibility – Works seamlessly across different browsers.
  3. User-Friendly – Easily add professional UI features.
  4. Customizable – With ThemeRoller, you can style your components.
  5. Beginner-Friendly – Easy to learn if you know basic HTML, CSS, and jQuery.

How to Get Started with jQuery UI

To start using jQuery UI, you need to include two main files in your HTML page:

  1. jQuery Library
  2. jQuery UI Library & CSS

Here’s a simple example of how to include them:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <title>jQuery UI Example</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://code.jquery.com/ui/1.13.2/themes/base/jquery-ui.css">
  <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script>
  <script src="https://code.jquery.com/ui/1.13.2/jquery-ui.js"></script>
</head>
<body>

<h2>jQuery UI Demo</h2>
<input type="text" id="datepicker" placeholder="Pick a date">

<script>
  $(function() {
    $("#datepicker").datepicker();
  });
</script>

</body>
</html>
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In this example, we used the Datepicker widget. Once you load the page, clicking inside the input field will show a calendar where the user can pick a date.

Popular jQuery UI Features

  1. Accordion

Used to show collapsible panels.

$("#accordion").accordion();
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  1. Tabs

Create tab-based navigation.

$("#tabs").tabs();
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  1. Dialog Box

Create modal popups.

$("#dialog").dialog();
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  1. Draggable & Droppable

Make elements draggable or droppable.

$("#drag").draggable();
$("#drop").droppable();
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  1. Sortable List

Allow users to reorder list items.

$("#sortable").sortable();
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  1. Autocomplete

Suggests words while typing.

$("#tags").autocomplete({
  source: ["HTML", "CSS", "JavaScript", "jQuery", "React", "Angular"]
});
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Building a Simple Interactive Web App with jQuery UI

Let’s build a Task Manager App using jQuery UI features.

Features:

  • Add tasks in a list.
  • Reorder tasks using drag-and-drop.
  • Mark tasks as completed with a checkbox.
  • Use Datepicker to set deadlines.

Code Snippet:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <title>Task Manager with jQuery UI</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://code.jquery.com/ui/1.13.2/themes/base/jquery-ui.css">
  <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script>
  <script src="https://code.jquery.com/ui/1.13.2/jquery-ui.js"></script>
</head>
<body>

<h2>Task Manager App</h2>
<input type="text" id="taskInput" placeholder="Enter task">
<input type="text" id="deadline" placeholder="Deadline">
<button id="addTask">Add Task</button>

<ul id="taskList"></ul>

<script>
  $(function() {
    $("#deadline").datepicker();
    $("#taskList").sortable();

    $("#addTask").click(function() {
      var task = $("#taskInput").val();
      var date = $("#deadline").val();
      if(task !== "") {
        $("#taskList").append("<li>" + task + " - " + date + "</li>");
        $("#taskInput").val("");
        $("#deadline").val("");
      }
    });
  });
</script>

</body>
</html>
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In this app, users can add tasks with deadlines, and then reorder them using drag-and-drop.

Conclusion

jQuery UI tutorial is a powerful toolkit for beginners who want to quickly build interactive web apps without writing complex JavaScript. It provides ready-to-use components such as accordions, tabs, datepickers, dialogs, and draggable elements. Even though modern frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue are popular, jQuery UI is still widely used in many projects, especially for simple apps and quick prototypes.

If you’re just starting your journey in web development, learning jQuery UI will help you create user-friendly, professional, and interactive applications with ease.

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Author/Publisher:
Suraj Kumar

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