

Weaning yourself off jQuery (2013) - mazeway
http://substack.net/weaning_yourself_off_jquery

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voidr
> As programmers build up applications up from lots of tiny components, if
> every component included a vendored jquery version, the total javascript
> size quickly baloons into multi-megabytes. When the jquery version gets
> pegged, version incompatibilities arise that likewise create redundancy
> issues. When the jquery version is left to float or its use is demanded
> externally in the documentation, this also does not scale well and makes it
> cumbersome and error-prone to use tiny pieces.

jQuery has a stable API, a clear migration path and a working compatibility
layer. jQuery is well documented and well known, if you have an issue you can
get help easily.

I don't think the above are true for most small NPM modules.

The author blames jQuery for a deficiency of the NPM: If you have module A and
B, which include the same version of module C, then C gets loaded twice. Not
all useful modules can fit into a few kilobytes.

People are pretty quick to jump on the jQuery-hate bandwagon, the reality is:
it's still a great tool for building amazing applications.

~~~
poseid
this post gives a nice overview on native DOM functions. not every app needs
JQuery otherwise we would not have Zepto, SnapSVG, RaphaelJS, ...

