jQuery

jQuery was released in January 2006 at BarCamp in New York City and is a cross-browser Javascript library. The reason users fall in love with with this free, open source software, is because of its simplicity for scripting in HTML. jQuery's syntax is designed to make it easier to selected DOM elements, event handling, animating, and Ajax interactions. jQuery is designed to change the way to you write JavaScript. With jQuery, dynamic and powerful web pages are possible.

Features

• Dom traversal and modification
• Events
• CSS manipulation
• Effects and animation
• Ajax
• Extensibility
• Utilities
• Cross-browser support

Usage Styles

• Factory method: uses commands that are chainable
• Utility function: using prefixed functions and do not work on jQuery objects

Plug-ins

• Above is an example of a jQuery plugin called jQuery Cycle. It cycles through a slideshow of images for you when you add in the code to your webpage.
• Due to the architecture of jQuery, developers can create plug-ins to extend its functionality. There are thousands of plug-ins ranging from web services, dynamic lists, animation, drag and drop, cookie handling, and Ajax helpers that exist on the web right now.
• The important source of jQuery plug-ins is the sub-domain of the website. There are tutorials on the jQuery official web page that explain how they work and how to incorporate them into your website.

Open Source Software

• OSS is a computer software available in source code where it is free to distribute. OSS is often developed in public collaboratively. Most OSS is user-generated and sometimes can be available in a public domain. Github is a very popular website for OSS.
• The free software movement was launched in 1983 and in 1988, a group of people determined that the software should be called open source software.
• This is a great way for people to get their work and code out. Companies using open source software can establish the industry standard and gain competitive advantage. It is known to be reliable because many coders can chip into making the perfect source code.
• jQuery is an example of an Open Source Software, and users from around the world can chip in or take part of the jQuery library.

jQuery and I

• I use jQuery frequently and have it in part of my portfolio site. I use cycle, slide, and lightbox. These plug-ins allow for a very smooth transition between my pages. Open source software is the way to go because it allows user to generate and share their code. With this people can create a name for themselves and also help many enhance their webpage.

References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JQuery
• http://docs.jquery.com/How_jQuery_Works
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software
• http://www.w3schools.com/jquery/default.asp