What is jQuery?
This is a small cross-browser JavaScript library created to simplify the client-side scripting of HTML. Jquerry was released in early 2006 at BarCamp NYC and until then it became the most popular JavaScript library in use. jQuery was developed to change the way programmer write JavaScript using a combination of versatility and extensibility. This fast, small rich-featured JavaScript library is able to make things much simpler with an intuitive API that works over multiple browsers.
This is an open source software, dual-licensed under the MIT License and the GNU General Public License. Now it is easier to navigate a document, select DOM elements, do animations, handle events and create Ajax apps. Thanks to jQuery developers are able to create plugins on top pf the JavaScript library, develop abstractions for low-level interaction and animation, advanced effects and high-level, theme-able widgets. Powerful and dynamic websites now can be created.
jQuery main features
Here you can check out the most important features that jQuery has to offer:
- creation of animations and effects
- extensibility through plugins creation
- DOM traversal and modification which includes support for CSS 1-3
- CSS use
- DOM element selections using the cross-browser open source selector engine Sizzle
- creation of Ajax applications
- features multi-browser support
To summarize we can say that jQuery provides a combination of extensibility and skills that changed the way millions of people write JavaScript.