JQuery is an open-source JavaScript library that simplifies a variety of programming operations and provides easy scripting for HTML.
Released in 2006, “Write less, do more” It is a must-have tool for every web developer.
It adds dimension to web designing by providing cross-platform compatibility and efficient use of plug-ins.
This is currently the most used JavaScript library on the web and currently dominates the market. However, its relevance has decreased in the past few years and in the coming future, it may not remain that relevant.
Today we will discuss the downside of the JQuery and later we will see some of the points that make it unsuitable for use in your WordPress website besides having many benefits and flexibility.
What Is JQuery?
It has made HTML coding easier and multiple functions can be performed with a single line of code. This is the most popular JavaScript library in use today which is a DOM (Document Object Model) manipulation library at its core. It is like a tree structure made up of elements of a web page. [ statistics ]
The Downside Of Using JQuery
We have been using it for years, so it becomes much easier to find out certain flaws that it has. Now, let’s see some of the points which outlines that it is unsuitable for use on your website.
It Is Unstructured
When the JQuery was released, from then a lot of new browsers were introduced by several tech companies. So to meet the needs and to be compatible with the new browsers stressed the need for jQuery to expand its codebase. This results in a lot of rewritten JQuery codes which makes it an unstructured library.
The rewritten codes have increased the file size of the JQuery. The usual procedures of making the library light like caching and compressing can’t reduce the load time.
It Has Difficult Library
It is a DOM (Document Object Model) manipulation library at its core like a tree structure made up of elements of a web page. It contains all its DOM, events, effects and AJAX components in a single JavaScript file which is a huge library to import.
This is DOM APIs that are now obsolete. Modern browsers can now do the work more quickly than JQuery. A lot of functionality for which it was popular like class selectors, attribute selectors are now available by default in the Vanilla JavaScript code. Vanilla JavaScript DOM manipulates codes in lightning-fast speed and it is less cryptic for cross-team development and integrates perfectly.
JQuery is Complex For Logic Building
As it is primarily built for DOM manipulations it has restricted logic building as it does not follow any pattern and often developers tend to write spaghetti code which becomes really difficult to track, debug and reorganize such codes.
Modern libraries like React, Angular, Vue have their own pattern based programming which makes them easy for complex projects which require logic.
JQuery Is Overweight
The file over time and development has gained a substantial increase in size. The first version which was 1.2 had a file size of 77.40 KB and the latest version 3.4.1 has a size of 273.80 KB. Another thing to be kept in mind is that the large code is ever-expanding with newer versions. The expanding size is larger than any CSS file which is larger than an image. Although the zipped jQuery file is good with just over 30 KB of size.
A developer often finds this heavier in size while designing the website and it slows down the performance. If they use JQuery+ along with JQuery then the first page will contain 300 kb of Js code only. This will drastically increase the loading time of the website page and decrease its performance.
JQuery Employ Caching In Codes
Always remember that no tool is big in the industry of the web designing concept. A designer at times might be able to tackle simple projects but the real problem starts when the requirement of DOM manipulation comes in for complicated assignments. While writing a code you might require calling an element twice. You can cache the element by saving the jQuery selector into a variable.
When you cache the element by saving the JQuery selector then this will ensure that it will not have to search the entire DOM tree again for your element. This will help you in reducing the loading time of the website considerably.
JQuery Is Non-Mobile Supported
It has the libraries that every developer thinks and relies upon implement easily. Besides having features like dynamic resizing of elements, draggable elements, sortable and droppable, etc. one of the biggest weaknesses of this framework is that it doesn’t offer support for mobile touch devices.
You have to include the touch script and plugins on your page to make mouse events to respond and optimized for mobile devices. The plugin will make your usual JQuery UI code work in touch devices and then you may find features like- resize, drop, sliders, accordions, select, etc.
Conclusion
Web designing existed before jQuery came into the practice and will remain even after this is replaced with a better tool. However, with time browsers and native JavaScript and CSS are much more suitable for new projects. I think CSS is still a perfect replacement for JQuery.
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