jQuery Introduction: What is jQuery?

You might have heard about many programming languages like Python, JavaScript, and more. But are you wondering what is jQuery? Well, if the answer is yes, let us tell you that jQuery is a library of JavaScript that helps to write lengthy codes in a short and quick way. Therefore, in this article, we will discuss its history and understand what its main uses are.

What is jQuery

jQuery is a lightweight and one of the most widely used libraries of JavaScript. It is small in size but has a lot of amazing fast-speed features. With the help of this library, the web development community has made an innovative ecosystem of websites, plugins, and frameworks to enhance the user experience. Subsequently, that is why using JavaScript on your website is now easy with this library.

In addition, jQuery was specially designed to reduce programmer’s time and effort. It is also used for HTML DOM tree traversal and manipulation with event handling and much more. According to web analysis, this library is at least 3 to 4 times more used than any other JavaScript library. Eventually, this means that from 10 million popular websites, 77% of them are using jQuery.

You may also like: jQuery vs JavaScript: What’s the Difference?

jQuery History

In 2005, John Resig developed the primary version of jQuery and released it at an event called BarCamp NYC in 2006. This library was originally licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5, but at the end of 2006, it was dual-licensed under GPL and MIT licenses.

Since 2006, many versions of this library have been released and updated to ensure it meets the developers’ requirements. From the table below, you can easily understand the history of this JavaScript library. Moreover, in this table, you will see when the library was updated and released.

Version	Initial Release	Last Update	Minified Size (KB)
1.0	August 26, 2006
1.1	January 14, 2007
1.2	September 10, 2007	1.2.6	54.5
1.3	January 14, 2009	1.3.2	55.9
1.4	January 14, 2010	1.4.4	76.7
1.5	January 31, 2011	1.5.2	83.9
1.6	May 3, 2011	1.6.4 (September 12, 2011)	89.5
1.7	November 3, 2011	1.7.2 (March 21, 2012)	92.6
1.8	August 9, 2012	1.8.3 (November 13, 2012)	91.4
1.9	January 15, 2013	1.91 (February 4, 2013)	90.5
1.10	May 24, 2013	1.10.2 (July 3, 2013)	90.9
1.11	January 24, 2014	1.11.3 (April 28, 2015)	93.7
1.12	January 8, 2016	1.12.4 (May 20, 2016)	94.9
2.0	April 18, 2013	2.0.3 (July 3, 2013)	81.7
2.1	January 24, 2014	2.1.4 (April 28, 2015)	82.4
2.2	January 8, 2016	2.2.4 (May 20, 2016)	83.6
3.0	June 9, 2016	3.0.0 (June 9, 2016)	84.3
3.1	July 7, 2016	3.1.1 (September 23, 2016)	84.7
3.2	March 16, 2017	3.2.1 (March 20, 2017)	84.6
3.3	January 19, 2018	3.3.1 (January 20, 2018)	84.9
3.4	April 10, 2019	3.4.1 (May 1, 2019)	86.1
3.5	April 10, 2020	3.5.1 (May 4, 2020)	87.4
3.6	March 2, 2021	3.6.4 (March 8, 2023)	88.2
3.7	May 11, 2023	3.7.0 (May 11, 2023)	85.4

Why Use jQuery?

Many modern and innovative websites are made with the help of jQuery, making the use of JavaScript easy. In addition, the experience of website visitors is also enhanced a lot due to fast page loading and more.

This was possible because developers are now writing shortcodes with the help of jQuery for big websites. Furthermore, there are several reasons why jQuery is being used. You can check out the following list to understand more about what is the use of jQuery:

SEO Friendly: All the content in jQuery is set up as text, which makes it smaller in size. That is why many search engines, including Google and Bing, are using this library, as it is SEO-friendly.
Fast Page Load: One of the main factors that affects the website SEO is the page loading speed. Due to this reason, every programmer is trying to write concise codes with the help of jQuery to boost the SEO of websites.
Understandable: jQuery has simpler code than JavaScript because it is easy to write lengthy codes in few lines, saving coders time and effort.
Animated Applications: This JavaScript library uses a combination of CSS, HTML, JavaScript, and AJAX, which helps users apply an optimization strategy to their website.

Example of jQuery

In the realm of web development, jQuery has long been a go-to tool for crafting dynamic and responsive user interfaces. By simplifying complex tasks and interactions, jQuery empowers developers to create seamless and engaging web experiences. Let’s delve into a practical example that illustrates how jQuery can transform static web content into interactive elements that captivate and engage users.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <title>jQuery Example</title>
  <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
  <button id="clickMeButton">Click Me!</button>
  <p id="displayText"></p>
</body>
</html>

JavaScript (with jQuery):

$(document).ready(function() {
  // Attach a click event handler to the button
  $("#clickMeButton").click(function() {
    // Change the text of the paragraph
    $("#displayText").text("Hello, jQuery!");
  });
});

What is ZEGOCLOUD SDK for jQuery?

If you are looking for an API or SDK to use jQuery for developing different programs, then ZEGOCLOUD can be the best option for you. Moreover, this API/SDK provider has various APIs that use JavaScript. Here, you can use its UIKits which helps you to program one-on-one and group video call on your website or applications with few codes.

To integrate video call API, voice call API, live streaming API, and Chat API, you don’t need to make much effort because, due to its unique design, it is easy to integrate it on any website or app. Consequently, using this, you can add or remove different in-call features per your requirements.

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