The question “is it worth learning jQuery?” is asked by many developers. As there are tons of javascript frameworks out there, its hard to make a decision about learning jQuery. If you are looking for a short answer, then NO. You shouldn’t learn jQuery in 2023 because of the following reasons.
Why you shouldn’t learn jQuery in 2023
- Modern browsers support almost all the new features of javascript.
- You can write javascript code that you are looking to be done in jQuery.
- There are better technologies available than jQuery such as alpine JS.
- You’ll be loading code from jQuery you might not need.
- A website https://youmightnotneedjquery.com/ can show you javascript code to use instead of jQuery.
Browser Compatibility Issues in 2023
Back in 2011-2012 developers had to write code for all the browsers including Internet Explorer. It was very tough to fix the compatibility issues of different browsers. At that time, jQuery was a lifesaver. Now, it’s 2023 and those days are gone. All the major browsers keep updating every month to support new javascript and CSS features. Microsoft also has dropped support for Internet Explorer and the new Microsoft Edge browser is based on chromium. So, developers don’t have to worry about browser compatibility a lot.
Using jQuery for Small Tasks?
Well, many developers used jquery for small tasks such as hiding and showing an element on the web page, fade-in, fade-out animations, and so on. Using jQuery for these small tasks is really bad for 2 reasons.
- You’ll be loading everything from jQuery which you might not use. This will slow down your website and users will have to wait a lot.
- You can use https://youmightnotneedjquery.com/ to get the alternative code in javascript instead of writing in jQuery.
jQuery is a legacy for WordPress websites.
One other argument people will put when discussing learning jQuery is that “WordPress websites are still using jQuery”. Well, all the themes developed in the past relied on jQuery because doing javascript work was hard back then due to browser compatibility issues. Now, modern WordPress themes are dropping jQuery and started using javascript. Using jQuery in WordPress has performance issues. WordPress has an article about the performance impact of using jQuery in WordPress themes. After reading this article, you’ll realize that most of the themes will start dropping jQuery in the future.
Bootstrap Dropped jQuery in the Latest versions
One of the top CSS frameworks, bootstrap also dropped jQuery from version 5. This means there is no requirement to load jQuery before working with bootstrap. Today, bootstrap recommends using their own JavaScript files if your web pages require any javascript work.
Alternatives of jQuery
If you are working on a bigger application, you might need to use react, vue, or another similar framework. These are modern frameworks to develop complex UIs for web applications. But if you are working with a small website that just needs dropdown, simple animations, and manipulating DOM elements, you might consider alpine JS which is a better option than jQuery with many modern features. The benefit of using alpine JS over jQuery is it’s fast, lightweight, and offers a lot more than jQuery with ease to use.
Conclusion
After reading the above points, you should have answered the question “is it worth learning jQuery”. As you have read above, jQuery is not a requirement in today’s world of web programming. Instead of wasting your time learning jQuery syntax, you should spend time learning modern frameworks like alpine JS, react JS, or vue JS. If this article helps you, consider sharing it with your colleagues and friends.