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JavaScript and JQuery are two of the popular languages but the programmers always find it difficult to select any one of them when they develop any website. There are some developers as well who do not know the exact difference between both when they are offered to select anyone. You may be surprised by knowing the fact that both JQuery and JavaScript are same and JQuery is just a set of JavaScript libraries that can be used to simplify HTML document, event handling, Ajax interaction, and animation.
In this article we are going to discuss JavaScript and JQuery, however, in order to use JQuery, you should know JavaScript. We will also discuss which is the better one to use?
JavaScript has been used for server-side programming, to create desktop applications and for game development. Earlier when JavaScript was launched every web developer was not ready to use it just because many web browsers do not support JavaScript.
JavaScript is basically a dynamic and interpreted programming language. As per its name, it is a scripting language. JavaScript is used to design an attractive interface like to move objects on the screen or to display flashy elements on the screen, for client-side validation, to show pop-ups or for user interactions, developers can also control the content displayed on the document.
To use a JavaScript-based website you need not change any browser setting. This is just because JavaScript is considered the web page languages since its evolution. All modern browsers support JavaScript without any additional plug-in.
JavaScript becomes popular as it was able to display and handle dynamic web content, the content that changes and adapted easily by every web user. It is basically used for interface interaction and you can also know that whether a user is using a computer or mobile device if the web page is designed through JavaScript. These small but unique and valuable features of JavaScript make it a favorite language of web developers.
Read: AngularJs vs Angular Versions - Comparison Guide
Earlier web developers usually create JavaScript framework before the evolution of JQuery. In this way they have to work for any specific bug and even without wasting their time they can easily debug any script. JavaScript developers have also created libraries that are free to use and are available at no cost.
JQuery is basically not a separate scripting language instead is just a specific library of JavaScript. It is one of the most popular JavaScript libraries as it is quite easy to use and is extremely powerful.
Many programmers get confused about these languages and think that they are two separate programming languages, but in reality, they both are same. JQuery has been optimized to perform many functions of scripting and it can perform these functions with the help of just a few lines of code.
JQuery is a cross-platform JavaScript library and is a feature-rich library. Programmers can create common UI through this and can also handle browser compatibility issue easily. All code that is written in JQuery is converted to JavaScript internally. A page of JQuery is usually started with the following code line:
<script src="https://ajax.aspnetcdn.com/ajax/jQuery/jquery-3.2.1.min.js"></script >
Through this line, JQuery code is inserted in the web page through Microsoft CDN or Microsoft Content Delivery Network. JQuery is just a single JavaScript file. JQuery library can also be included in a file as a local resource from the project folder, but an earlier one that to use Microsoft CDN is considered the better option.
Read: Difference between ArrayList & LinkedList
JQuery is a concise, fast and simple JavaScript library that is used to handle dynamic data or content of a web page. It is getting popular day by day due to its simplicity and extensibility. Unlike other JavaScript libraries like MooTools, Angular, Knockout or TypeScript it is quite simple and features rich library.
As we have discussed above that both of these languages are not different instead are similar and JQuery in itself is JavaScript library, but some of the features of JQuery that makes it different from JavaScript and preferred the choice of web developers are listed below:
| JavaScript | JQuery |
| A dynamic programming language that is weakly typed | A concise and fast JavaScript library |
| A scripting language for controlling the document content and interface interaction | JQuery is a framework that makes Ajax interaction, event handling and animating faster and simpler |
| JavaScript an interpreted language | It uses resources of JavaScript to make things and task simpler and easier |
| You may need to write your own script and it can be a time-consuming process | You only have to write existing JQuery scripts so it saves your time |
| Developers write their own code to handle multi-browser compatibility in JavaScript | Need not to worry about multi-browser compatibility issues |
| Just because developers have to write code manually so browser related errors are likely to occur | Developers can remain worried free as no error due to browser compatibility will occur |
| Do not need to add any additional plugins as all browsers support JavaScript | You may have to include jQuery library URL in the header of the page |
| Too many code lines or lines of code | Fewer lines of code |
| DOM can be accessed faster | It is best for complex operations where developers usually make mistakes and write poor lines of code |
In this way, we can say that there are no major differences between JQuery and JavaScript instead of the small differences between both makes them quite different and unique programming languages. Now as we have said that they are same or similar you may think and found it difficult to choose any one of them, so in our next section of this blog, we are going to discuss the same that which language must be used in which case?
We are discussing throughout this article that JQuery is not a separate language instead is just a part of JavaScript. Most of the people get confused between both just due to lack of understanding both languages. JQuery is a library of JavaScript so cannot replace JavaScript and we can say that all JQuery code can be replaced by JavaScript but vice versa is not true. Through JQuery common scripting functions are done just in a few lines and so it is not a different programming language.
As far as performance of both the languages is concerned then you may find JavaScript slower then JQuery, but for accessing DOM JavaScript is faster than JQuery. Complex code of longer code may be easier to understand and execution if it is written in JQuery as in case of longer code there can be many mistakes in JavaScript. JQuery is faster to use and to code.
Professional web developers keep on discussing which language they should use in a given situation? However, there is not any correct and particular answer to this question. Both languages can create the same effect but JQuery can do the same thing in just fewer lines of code, while JavaScript can be a lengthy one.
Read: What Is The Time Required To Learn JavaScript Effectively?
We can say that JQuery in itself is sufficient for most of the web development projects, but some specific projects may still require specific JavaScript language. Although JQuery may be the better choice in most of the cases, still in many cases or as a web developer it may be time taken process to learn JQuery and JavaScript.
Use of JavaScript can slow down the process and time taken in project completion at a significant level. You can also use JQuery but if you are a novice user, then both JavaScript and JQuery programming may be time-consuming processes.
Remember JQuery is optimized to work with multi browsers, so if you are going to develop a project that has to be used on various browsers then you should use JQuery rather than JavaScript. Even being an old programming language there are some problems with cross-browser functionalities in JavaScript and therefore web developers do not prefer it while developing a web project.
Following codes are written in JavaScript and JQuery to change background colors:
JQuery: $(body).css(‘background’,#ccc’);
JavaScript:
Function changeBackground(color){
Document.body.style.background=color;
}
Onload=”change background(‘red’;)”So you can see here that just by a single line of code you can perform the same task for which you will have to write a complete function if you will use JavaScript language. Even in JavaScript debugging can also be a time-consuming process as the codes are lengthy and it takes much time to complete the code. Conclusion In short, we can say that for rapid web development it is good to use JQuery, as it also takes care of common browser errors and through its ready to use library functions things gets faster. Though it totally depends on your need to choose any one of them, still most of the web development projects work fine with JQuery rather than JavaScript. For initial product versions, you can start with JQuery as debugging time will also get reduced, while later you can switch to JavaScript.
Read: How to Resolve Java.net.ConnectException: Connection Refused Error
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