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Ask HN: Does anybody still use jQuery?

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Re: Ask HN: Does anybody still use jQuery?

#11

Post by i_dont_know_ »

Absolutely! Different tools for different projects. If I'm building a 'real' webapp (as in, something with users logging in and lots of data dependencies) I'll use something like React, but if it's a small project... it's not at all worth setting up the infrastructure and maintaining it when a few lines of jQuery will do the job.

Re: Ask HN: Does anybody still use jQuery?

#15

Post by sheraz »

Yes, and I love it.

In hindsight I have been guilty of resume-padding and falling prey to hype by choosing to build on technology not appropriate to the problems at hand. And I find myself reverting back to basics, with bits of new tech sprinkled in.

My reversions:

  - React, flux, redux ---->  jQuery and intercoolerjs when needed
  - Swarm, Kubernetes  ---->  Just plain old docker on single machine, scale vertically with cores and memory when needed
  - Microservices first ----> Django Monolith first, then break out microservice when needed
  - API Gateways (kong, Azure) ----> Nginx reverse proxy with hand-edited configs.
I can do this because I have chosen to work on niche problems and smaller markets. Scale is not my issue, even in very successful scenarios.

I see jQuery will have a place in my stack for some time to come. It just works (tm), and it plays well when I need to level-up with wither intercooler or yes -- backbone.

Another benefit is that it is a low barrier to entry for junior developers. It allows me to establish a baseline knowledge, and then mentor other things like workflow, code structure, and architectural things rather than chasing weird configuration things inside of webpack or the taskrunner-du-jour.

Re: Ask HN: Does anybody still use jQuery?

#17

Post by kylorhall »

Almost every older project I've worked on uses jQuery. Currently working on a large Rails app, some parts being 10 years old, and it's the same story. Old code is jQuery, new code is not.

It was spectacular 10 years ago, but now it's pretty much useless to me. Most everything either shouldn't be done in javascript or has a native replacement – at least with polyfills and Babel that I need for all development. I would love to remove it, but it would take far too long and provide little customer benefit (remove the library download), so it's only removed when something is refactored.

Re: Ask HN: Does anybody still use jQuery?

#18

Post by aserafini »

sheraz wrote: post #15

Yes, and I love it. In hindsight I have been guilty of resume-padding and falling prey to hype by choosing to build on technology not appropriate to the problems at hand. And I find myself reverting back to basics, with bits of new tech sprinkled in. My reversions: - React, flux, redux ----> jQuery and intercoolerjs when needed - Swarm, Kubernetes ----> Just plain old docker on single machine, scale vertically with c…

Your reversions resonate with me very strongly, even down to the exact tech choices. While the industry seems to chase ever increasing complexity, I believe 90% of web applications would be served more than adequately by jQuery, intercoolerjs and Django running in a single container that can scale horizontally if necessary on Elasticbeanstalk. (eb deploy.. Done).

But, sadly, it feels like openly selling yourself as a consultant in these technologies would be a form of sabotage and limit your opportunities considerably.

I've just had an idea for branding myself: artisinal, vintage web development using traditional jQuery / Django. :)

Re: Ask HN: Does anybody still use jQuery?

#19

Post by Macha »

Not so much. It's lost out at both ends. Larger projects end up with Vue (and before that Angular), and smaller projects end up with just VanillaJS due to support for APIs like document.querySelector(), window.fetch(), , etc.
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