[jQuery] Full text
[jQuery] Full text
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<DIV><SPAN class=656500219-12072006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>and
the link:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=656500219-12072006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><A
href="http://www.sitepoint.com/newsletter/viewissue.php?id=5&issue=23&format=html">http://www.sitepoint.com/newsletter/viewissue.php?id=5&issue=23&format=html</A></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
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<P><FONT size=2><!----------------//------<BR>andy matthews<BR>web
developer<BR>certified advanced coldfusion programmer<BR>ICGLink,
Inc.<BR>andy@icglink.com<BR>615.370.1530
x737<BR>--------------//---------></FONT> </P>
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<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> discuss-bounces@jquery.com
[mailto:discuss-bounces@jquery.com]<B>On Behalf Of </B>Acuff, Daniel (Comm
Lines, PAC)<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, July 12, 2006 1:57 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
discuss@jquery.com<BR><B>Subject:</B> [jQuery] Full text<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><!-- Converted from text/rtf format -->
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>jQuery - The Web Designer's Fix-all Tool
</FONT><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>If the rebirth of JavaScript has been the
biggest theme of the past two years, you could probably divide most of the
talk surrounding this topic into two main areas. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>At the geekier end of town we've seen smarties
harnessing JavaScript to do all sorts of amazing, and occasionally ridiculous,
things with Ajax. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>However for "front-end guys" like myself, much of
the scripting fizz and bubble has been focussed around "refitting your
markup", that is, using JavaScript to make your markup work better after it
gets to the browser. Long-time Design View readers will probably remember a
few of my own experiments along these lines over the past two years:
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>in Styling Images with the DOM (#12) we used JS to
add rounded corners to images </FONT><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>in DOM Text
Shadows (#7) we used JS to build up a shadow on heading text </FONT><BR><FONT
face=Arial size=2>in Horizontal Rulez! OK! (#6) we used JS to fix the dodgy
<hr> tag </FONT><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>Although each of these
scripts has quite a different purpose, they all involve sending neat, semantic
markup to browsers, and then using JavaScript to either fix or extend the
abilities of the browsers that are smart enough to understand. In most cases
this involved "wrapping" some part of your markup in some more markup. Today
we're going to look at an easy, all-purpose method that will allow us to do
this anytime, anywhere: jQuery. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>So, what is jQuery? </FONT><BR><FONT face=Arial
size=2>JQuery is yet another JavaScript library to join the already crowded
space that includes Prototype, Scriptaculous, Rico, Moo.Fx and maybe a dozen
others. You attach the ".JS" file in your <head> to get access to lots
of pre-built functions and gizmos. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Q: Why would you possibly want another arcane
Javascript library to deal with? </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>A: The key attraction of jQuery is what it can
offer you within the first 10 minutes of using it. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>As I mentioned, we've spent most of the past month
working on improving the way in which SitePoint's Marketplace operates. While
looking for an elegant way to allow sellers to display large screenshots,
stats, graphs and other images without leaving the main auction page, we came
across Cody Lindley's Thickbox, which is powered by John Resig's jQuery
JavaScript library. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thickbox speaks for itself, and five minutes of
toying with it will show you its relative advantages. In the new MarketPlace,
I was able to pull through both linked images and full HTML documents to the
"Thickbox window" while simultaneously dimming (but not losing) the "launch
page". Non-JavaScript users are simply linked directly to the item (image or
page). Very clever, usable and accessible. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>However since we'd already factored in the overhead
of including the jQuery library (it's tiny, only 10kish), I thought it would
be a good idea to find out what else it could do for us. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>An hour later, I was a jQuery convert. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>The true beauty of jQuery is its simplicity. Single
lines of jQuery code can replace a dozen lines of normal JavaScript, yet it
remains very elemental and flexible. </FONT></P><FONT
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