Will jQuery really die in 2024?
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 10:44 am
I was surprised to learn that HubSpot has a jQuery library on board, because since I started my web development career 14 years ago, I've heard the phrase "jQuery is dead" at least once a year. And surely another library/framework/whatever is a "jQuery killer". So let's find out why HubSpot still uses it and will jQuery really die in 2024?
What is jQuery?
Let’s start with the question – what is jQuery? In reality, jQuery is simply a JavaScript library. It has been used by developers for over a decade. jQuery has been one of the most popular JavaScript libraries since its release in 2006. jQuery is a fast and concise JavaScript library that simplifies HTML document traversal, event handling, and animation. It is a solution for developers who want to simplify the process of DOM manipulation and event handling. It was developed to make web development easier and faster by providing a simple and concise API for manipulating HTML documents. jQuery became popular in the early days of web development due to its ease of use and cross-browser compatibility. This allowed developers to write less code and achieve more, making it the library of choice for many web developers.
However, as web development evolved and modern JavaScript belize business email list frameworks emerged, jQuery began to lose its importance. Frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular gained popularity due to their excellent performance, ease of use, and scalability. They also offer advanced features like component-based architecture, server-side rendering, and state management that are not available in jQuery (mainly because it is just a library that was never anything more).
In addition, modern browsers have improved significantly in recent years, making it easier to build web applications without relying on jQuery. Browsers now offer built-in APIs and features that were previously only available through jQuery. For example, the querySelectorAll() method combined with an arbitrary loop (such as forEach) allows developers to easily select DOM elements without using jQuery. Browsers also offer native event handling, making jQuery event handling less important.
Another reason why jQuery is declining in importance is that it is not as actively maintained as it once was. The last major release of jQuery was version 3.6.0 in 2021, and since then there have only been a few minor updates. This lack of updates means that jQuery may not be compatible with the latest web technologies and may be vulnerable to security threats.
Will jQuery still be relevant in 2024?
Ok, let’s go back to 2024 and try to answer a simple question: does jQuery still matter? The answer is, surprisingly, more yes than no. 77.7% of sites worldwide that have js detected use jQuery. In other words, 3 out of 4 sites still have the library on their pages. You can check that information here . The numbers in popular search tools like Siteefy and Builtwith show slightly different, but still surprising statistics. The first says we have something like 200 million active pages , BuilWith reports close to 90 million active pages with jQuery . That’s not 3 out of 4, but still 1 out of 2.
jQuery is certainly no longer the go-to library for web development, but as we can see, it still has its place in the web development ecosystem. Many websites and web applications still rely on jQuery, and it is still widely used in older codebases. It is also a great choice for small projects and prototypes where the overhead of using a modern framework is not necessary.
What’s more, jQuery still offers some advantages over modern frameworks. Its small size makes it an ideal choice for websites that require fast load times. jQuery’s simplicity and ease of use also make it a great choice for beginners who are just starting out in web development. In fact, some developers prefer to use jQuery due to its simplicity and ease of use, especially when it comes to handling events and animations. Honestly, it seems like jQuery is now something of a guilty pleasure in front-end development – almost everyone uses it, but no one wants to talk about it.
jQuery in HubSpot
As I mentioned - HubSpot has jQuery on board, so you can add it to all pages on your HubSpot site in Settings > Site > Pages:
hubspot jquery
However, you can't choose the latest version. HubSpot only lets you choose between 2 versions:
1.7.x
1.11.x
And the latest version can only be added to pages manually. Why is this happening? On the HubSpot for Developers page you can find the following:
Modern JavaScript and web browsers have made writing JavaScript much easier. Most of the functionality of jQuery has its equivalents in vanilla JavaScript. These equivalents are faster, do not require a large JavaScript library like jQuery. As a result, they are also more secure.
So HubSpot does have jQuery on board, but yes, it’s more of a legacy for old sites than a useful tool for future development, and the development team doesn’t recommend using jQuery at all.
What’s more, HubSpot has a tool that can show you how a website works and looks without jQuery. Just add the following parameters to the page URL:
?hsNoJQuery=true&hsDebug=true
For example for our site it will be https://www.growinternational.eu/?hsNoJ ... Debug=true and even without jQuery it still looks nice.
But despite HubSpot's recommendation to not use jQuery at all, we need to understand that the number of pages with jQuery in HubSpot is still large enough to fully remove the library from the platform (currently, BuiltWith reports that there are almost 530,000 live pages on HubSpot ).
Will jQuery really die in 2024?
Instead of a conclusion, let's answer the question in the title of the post. jQuery is not completely dead in 2024, and it's not even close. Despite its decreasing importance, a huge number of "jQuery killers" and "non-modern" labels 3 out of 4 sites (or 1 out of 2, depending on which statistic source you like better) still use it.
What is jQuery?
Let’s start with the question – what is jQuery? In reality, jQuery is simply a JavaScript library. It has been used by developers for over a decade. jQuery has been one of the most popular JavaScript libraries since its release in 2006. jQuery is a fast and concise JavaScript library that simplifies HTML document traversal, event handling, and animation. It is a solution for developers who want to simplify the process of DOM manipulation and event handling. It was developed to make web development easier and faster by providing a simple and concise API for manipulating HTML documents. jQuery became popular in the early days of web development due to its ease of use and cross-browser compatibility. This allowed developers to write less code and achieve more, making it the library of choice for many web developers.
However, as web development evolved and modern JavaScript belize business email list frameworks emerged, jQuery began to lose its importance. Frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular gained popularity due to their excellent performance, ease of use, and scalability. They also offer advanced features like component-based architecture, server-side rendering, and state management that are not available in jQuery (mainly because it is just a library that was never anything more).
In addition, modern browsers have improved significantly in recent years, making it easier to build web applications without relying on jQuery. Browsers now offer built-in APIs and features that were previously only available through jQuery. For example, the querySelectorAll() method combined with an arbitrary loop (such as forEach) allows developers to easily select DOM elements without using jQuery. Browsers also offer native event handling, making jQuery event handling less important.
Another reason why jQuery is declining in importance is that it is not as actively maintained as it once was. The last major release of jQuery was version 3.6.0 in 2021, and since then there have only been a few minor updates. This lack of updates means that jQuery may not be compatible with the latest web technologies and may be vulnerable to security threats.
Will jQuery still be relevant in 2024?
Ok, let’s go back to 2024 and try to answer a simple question: does jQuery still matter? The answer is, surprisingly, more yes than no. 77.7% of sites worldwide that have js detected use jQuery. In other words, 3 out of 4 sites still have the library on their pages. You can check that information here . The numbers in popular search tools like Siteefy and Builtwith show slightly different, but still surprising statistics. The first says we have something like 200 million active pages , BuilWith reports close to 90 million active pages with jQuery . That’s not 3 out of 4, but still 1 out of 2.
jQuery is certainly no longer the go-to library for web development, but as we can see, it still has its place in the web development ecosystem. Many websites and web applications still rely on jQuery, and it is still widely used in older codebases. It is also a great choice for small projects and prototypes where the overhead of using a modern framework is not necessary.
What’s more, jQuery still offers some advantages over modern frameworks. Its small size makes it an ideal choice for websites that require fast load times. jQuery’s simplicity and ease of use also make it a great choice for beginners who are just starting out in web development. In fact, some developers prefer to use jQuery due to its simplicity and ease of use, especially when it comes to handling events and animations. Honestly, it seems like jQuery is now something of a guilty pleasure in front-end development – almost everyone uses it, but no one wants to talk about it.
jQuery in HubSpot
As I mentioned - HubSpot has jQuery on board, so you can add it to all pages on your HubSpot site in Settings > Site > Pages:
hubspot jquery
However, you can't choose the latest version. HubSpot only lets you choose between 2 versions:
1.7.x
1.11.x
And the latest version can only be added to pages manually. Why is this happening? On the HubSpot for Developers page you can find the following:
Modern JavaScript and web browsers have made writing JavaScript much easier. Most of the functionality of jQuery has its equivalents in vanilla JavaScript. These equivalents are faster, do not require a large JavaScript library like jQuery. As a result, they are also more secure.
So HubSpot does have jQuery on board, but yes, it’s more of a legacy for old sites than a useful tool for future development, and the development team doesn’t recommend using jQuery at all.
What’s more, HubSpot has a tool that can show you how a website works and looks without jQuery. Just add the following parameters to the page URL:
?hsNoJQuery=true&hsDebug=true
For example for our site it will be https://www.growinternational.eu/?hsNoJ ... Debug=true and even without jQuery it still looks nice.
But despite HubSpot's recommendation to not use jQuery at all, we need to understand that the number of pages with jQuery in HubSpot is still large enough to fully remove the library from the platform (currently, BuiltWith reports that there are almost 530,000 live pages on HubSpot ).
Will jQuery really die in 2024?
Instead of a conclusion, let's answer the question in the title of the post. jQuery is not completely dead in 2024, and it's not even close. Despite its decreasing importance, a huge number of "jQuery killers" and "non-modern" labels 3 out of 4 sites (or 1 out of 2, depending on which statistic source you like better) still use it.