jQuery - Is it worth using?

[samanime]

Hello,

I had a co-worker bring up the jQuery to me today and said I should take a look at it. I've known about jQuery for a while but never really taken the time to get into it. I know a fair amount of Javascript already and typically just write anything I need real quick on my own.

If for no other reason, I've decided to look more closely at jQuery. I'm posting here to ask others for their comments and experiences with jQuery. Also, what type of applications is it most suited for? Is it sort of like C++, with Javascript being C, in that it can do anything and usually do it better than Javascript, or does it have more of a focus towards certain applications.

I noticed it is about 15kb, so for smaller Javascript things, it seems a bit bulky to use.

So, what do you think?

EDIT: While looking through their documentation I noticed a lot of Javascript errors popping up. How DOM-compliant is jQuery?

[dimis283]

I looked at jquery but I work with prototype and scriptaculus.
I want to give a cent to dojo.
Mootools and extjs also deserve a look.
Dimis

[sawmac]

I love jQuery. Like most JavaScript libraries it greatly accelerates the speed of development. It normalizes browser differences and simplifies complex tasks like handling Ajax, events and DOM searching and manipulation. In general, I think you'll find that all of the big JavaScript libraries work well and simplify JavaScript development.

I particularly like jQuery because of it's simple syntax for accessing DOM elements (based on CSS) and its notion of "chaining" which lets you can apply a series of complex functions to a collection of DOM elements in a single line of code. It's compact and efficient.

I've been impressed with the development team and the large community of people who are flocking to jQuery (i'd tend to stay away from a library that feels like it might just disappear due to lack of development or community interest.)

I don't think you'll go wrong with any of the big JavaScript libraries--each has a different philosophy and approach to programming, however, so you should look into them and see which feels most comfortable for you.

But having tried jQuery, I'm definitely a convert and am using it in all my projects (even for small stuff).