JQuery's Role in Modern Web Development: Beginnings, 2024, and Beyond
Introduction
There are many JavaScript libraries available in modern web development. One of the most important has been jQuery, which makes it much easier for web developers to perform complex tasks. We will explore the history of jQuery, from its advent to the present day, and with an eye on what lies in store for it in the coming years.
The Beginnings of jQuery
jQuery was the creation of John Resig, who developed the library in 2006 in order to make it easier to manipulate the DOM using JavaScript. We could now handle everyday tasks in a simple and consistent manner.
Early Impact and Widespread Adoption
Because of the powerful things that it could accomplish using a much simpler syntax, jQuery became very popular among developers. Let’s look at a simple DOM manipulation done with jQuery as it compares to the same DOM manipulation using vanilla JavaScript:
Vanilla JavaScript
<h2>Vanilla JavaScript</h2>
<div id="example"></div>
<script>
document.getElementById('example').innerHTML = 'Hello, World!';
</script>
jQuery
<h2>JQuery</h2>
<div id="example-jq"></div>
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.5.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script>
$('#example-jq').html('Hello, World!');
</script>
In the first example using vanilla js, we select the div element with the id example, and update its inner HTML so that the empty div now says 'Hello jQuery!'. In the second example we import the jQuery library and then use the jQuery selector $ and a hash for the id. The div content now says 'Hello World!'. The results of both methods are the same, but the jQuery is more readable and easier to implement. This is one of the reasons that it quickly became so popular.
Another reason is that it was able to be used on many different kinds of browsers. In the early days of web development, each different web browser (like Safari, Firefox, or Internet Explorer) rendered web pages in a different way. Because of this, sometimes websites would work with one browser, but not with another one. jQuery solved this problem by automatically handling differences between browsers, making it easier for developers to write code that would work across browsers. It made writing JavaScript more accessible and less prone to errors.
jQuery in 2024
Current Landscape
Things are much different today than in 2006, though. There are many frameworks available now, like Vue.js, Angular, and React. Even so, jQuery is still widely used by programmers around the world. It is often used in smaller projects without complex functionality, existing codebases or legacy systems, or rapid development.
Here is a comparison of Ajax calls using jQuery and the Fetch API:
jQuery
<h2>JQuery</h2>
<script>
$.ajax({
url: 'https://api.example.com/data',
method: 'GET',
success: function(response) {
console.log(response);
}
});
</script>
Fetch API
<h2>Fetch API</h2>
<script>
fetch('https://api.example.com/data')
.then(response => response.json())
.then(data => console.log(data))
.catch(error => console.error('Error:', error));
</script>
The jQuery example abstracts the complexity of setting up an XMLHttpRequest, providing an easier way to handle HTTP requests with built-in success and error handling. The syntax is simpler, and easier for developers to learn, write, and understand. The Fetch API is a newer approach that relies on promises. It works well with the async/await syntax that was introduced in ES8. The Fetch API may be more powerful, but jQuery is quick and easy, so it’s still going to be the first choice of many developers, especially when they’re working with code that already includes jQuery, which is the majority of code still.
What Lies Ahead
Since JavaScript is read by all web browsers in the same way now, the reliance on jQuery for browser compatibility is not really an issue anymore. Added to that is that what we once needed jQuery to accomplish we can now do using the APIs in our own browsers. Things may continue in this way, with browsers becoming more and more powerful so that we no longer have to rely on even jQuery alternatives, like React. Either way, it’s fairly certain that jQuery will retain its status in programming history. It paved the way for all of those modern browser functionalities that are replacing it. And it provided the answer to the very real problem of browser incompatibility. It will still be used by many programmers who are working on simple projects, have to work with legacy code, or want to develop something rapidly, until it is not.
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