A brief history of jQuery

The jQuery library emerged in 2006 when John Resig introduced a compact toolkit that made browser scripting predictable across competing browsers. The chainable API, CSS selector style querying, event delegation, Ajax helpers, and a vibrant plugin ecosystem helped it become the default way many teams wrote client side code for years. As browsers standardized features like querySelector, addEventListener, classList, and fetch, some of the original pain points faded, yet the library’s pragmatic ergonomics kept it relevant in production. I started using Vue 1.0 when Taylor Otwell from Laravel and Jeffrey Way from Laracasts began promoting it, and that shift toward components changed how I write JavaScript. Even so, jQuery still matters today because a large volume of mature codebases depend on it, many CMS themes and plugins assume it is present, and it remains a quick way to add progressive enhancement without a build step.

What can you do with jQuery?

• Select and traverse DOM elements concisely to read or modify text, attributes, classes, and styles with a predictable, chainable API.
• Bind, delegate, and unbind events to handle clicks, keyboard input, form submissions, and custom interactions across dynamic content.
• Fetch data with Ajax utilities, populate parts of a page, and coordinate loading states and error messages without a full reload.
• Animate and transition elements for microinteractions, collapsible sections, and attention cues using lightweight effects.
• Process forms by serializing input values, validating fields, and sending the results asynchronously, then updating validation messages inline.
• Compose utilities like iteration, mapping, and object extension to reduce boilerplate and normalize cross browser quirks.
• Author or integrate plugins to encapsulate behavior, share it across pages, and extend the core with reusable components.
• Incrementally modernize legacy interfaces by wrapping imperative code in small modules, introducing event delegation, and applying progressive enhancement without rewriting everything.
• Prototype features quickly by dropping the library into a page and experimenting without bundlers or a complex toolchain.

Good reads about jQuery

If you are brand new, I recommend a five minute orientation in a getting started guide to jQuery that shows how to include the library, select elements, and write your first interactions. Once you can run code on a page, solidify timing with a clear explanation of why and when to use the document ready method so scripts execute after the DOM is safe to touch.

From there, practice user interactions by following a hands on walkthrough for handling click events with jQuery’s .on method, then master iteration patterns with a practical guide to iterating collections using jQuery’s .each so you can transform sets of elements confidently.

Keep the official references open as you learn. The jQuery API documentation is the authoritative source for methods and patterns, and the selectors overview helps you target exactly the nodes you want. When you need nuanced event delegation and namespacing, the .on method reference is invaluable, and the Ajax category covers requesting JSON, HTML fragments, and form submissions.

If you are maintaining or upgrading a mature codebase, plan changes safely with the jQuery Migrate plugin documentation to surface deprecated patterns, and watch the official jQuery release blog for upgrade guides, deprecations, and changes that affect long term support.