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Learn more about the past, present and future of JQuery.
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jQuery became popular in the mid-2000s,
when there were a number of differences
0:00
between how browsers like
Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and
0:05
Safari handled DOM programming.
0:08
What worked in one browser didn't always
work in another, so a lot of a JavaScript
0:11
programmer's time was spent testing and
fixing code in different browsers.
0:16
This became tedious very quickly.
0:20
At the time, jQuery provided
a simple tool that took care of
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all of these browser differences so
programmers didn't have to.
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Browsers have come a long
way in recent years.
0:30
Not as much work needs to be done
to make sure that JavaScript
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plays nice in every
version of every browser.
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New native methods,
like querySelector and querySelectorAll,
0:39
have been added to the DOM API,
making it easier to select elements.
0:43
Because of this, you may have heard
some debate about whether jQuery
0:48
is still worth learning and using.
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The short answer is yes.
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jQuery is still everywhere.
0:56
At the time of this recording, it's still
used on millions of active websites.
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With this much existing code, it's
unlikely to disappear anytime soon, and
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the likelihood of running into
jQuery at some point in your career
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is still very high.
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While it may no longer be worthwhile
to invest large amounts of time
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into becoming a jQuery expert,
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it's valuable to get to know jQuery enough
to build simple projects, use plugins,
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maintain an existing code base,
and add interactivity to webpages.
1:24
You may never use jQuery to build complex
web applications, but it's still quite
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useful for prototyping, or for adding
features to websites and smaller projects.
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It's a robust and mature library that
can offer you a lot of shortcuts and
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prefabricated functionality.
1:43
For example, if you wanted to
include a carousel, a drag and
1:45
drop feature, light box, or loading
animation to your webpage, you're going to
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be able to do that in a matter of minutes
with a preexisting jQuery solution.
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In general, you'll find excellent
documentation and a breadth of tutorials,
1:58
videos, and courses to help you accomplish
pretty much anything you want to do.
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This is perhaps the most
compelling reason to learn jQuery,
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because it was designed to make web
development enjoyable, fun, and easy.
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Especially if you're just learning
the ropes, jQuery can be a great place to
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start because it's so intuitive, allowing
you to build and create quickly and with
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ease, which can help you gain confidence
and motivate you to keep learning.
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It can free up time and mental bandwidth
so you can think less about the mechanics
2:30
of the language, or
the learning curve of the latest and
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greatest front-end framework, and spend
more time thinking about all the fun and
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exciting things that you want to build.
2:41
Okay, enough talk.
2:43
Let's look at a couple of quick
examples of how jQuery works and
2:45
how it differs from plain JavaScript.
2:49
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