You Don’t Need jQuery (Anymore)

Abstract

The primary goal of this chapter is to explain why a web developer like yourself should or should not use jQuery when developing a library or application. For example, file size is one common consideration when choosing browser-based dependencies. I cover the importance of this attribute and determine how it factors into your decision to utilize this library. Including exploration of the file-size argument, the usefulness of jQuery will be further analyzed. As part of this particular exploration effort, I will contrast the common reasons why developers choose to use jQuery against the problems that the same developers may run into as a result of this choice. I may even briefly investigate and discuss other libraries that may be used in place of jQuery or even propel it into obsolescence, though this will mostly be limited. The focus of third-party code will be centered around adopting smaller and more focused libraries, and shims. The future of the native functionality provided by the browser will also be a point of discussion.