jQuerys

The term jQuerys is not a standard designation for the JavaScript library commonly known as jQuery. This article uses jQuery to refer to the widely used library, while noting that the plural form is not typical in practice.

Overview and purpose

jQuery is a JavaScript library designed to simplify client-side scripting of HTML. Created by John Resig and released in 2006, it provides a concise API for tasks that are often verbose with plain JavaScript, including DOM traversal and manipulation, event handling, animation, and Ajax requests. It emphasizes cross-browser consistency and aims to streamline common web development patterns.

Core features

jQuery offers a CSS selector-based API for selecting elements, a chainable method syntax, and a rich set of utility functions. Common operations include adding or removing classes, attaching and detaching event handlers, performing animations, and handling Ajax calls with shorthand methods. The library is designed to work with a single global symbol, typically the $ alias, which can be used to select elements and call methods.

Architecture and usage

jQuery is distributed as a JavaScript file that can be included in web pages. After loading, developers use the ready event or shorthand to run code when the DOM is fully loaded. Plugins extend functionality, and the ecosystem includes related projects such as jQuery UI for widgets and interactions, and jQuery Mobile for mobile interfaces. Sizzle, jQuery’s selector engine, powers robust element matching across browsers.

History and relevance

For many years, jQuery was the dominant tool for DOM manipulation and Ajax in web development. With the advent of modern vanilla JavaScript APIs and new frontend frameworks, its relative prominence has declined, but it remains in wide use for legacy sites and CMS integrations. jQuery is actively maintained and continues to influence patterns in JavaScript development.

Licensing

jQuery is released under an MIT-style license, with distributions reflecting that permissive, widely adopted licensing.