sam.benskin.co.uk - am i missing something?

For anyone that is thinking of moving their website or web application into the 21st century, many would automatically head for prototype, script.aculo.us, or perhaps the lesser known MooTools (incorporating the more well known moo.fx). But what alternatives are there?, i hear you cry.

I've been experimenting with jQuery, and i have to say that it's simple, intuitive and easy to get into. The way jQuery gets your objects is just like in CSS or XPath. Using the $() notation, jQuery simply gets what you want, and wraps a load of functionality on to the result. Want all the table cells that have a class "red" use $("td.red"). Want to add another class to all those objects, simple, $("td.red").addClass("bigPadding"). You can create elements and use the jQuery methods to insert quickly into the DOM exactly where you need.

It doesn't stop there, because of the way jQuery adds more functionality to an object, anyone else can do the same, which means easy plugin creation. The excellent Interface plugin adds some fantastic effects like those seen in script.aculo.us. It's a plugin, so you don't have to get the effects system if you don't want it, meaning smaller javascript files. If you do want effects, the Interface plugin is cleverly designed to allow you to pick *exactly* the effects you want, and creates a personalised file for you to download, so that you can get the smallest javascript file that you need.

Want Ajax support, you got it, and again it's simple as pie. To load an ajax result into a certain paragraph $("p#id").load("/path/to/url", { name: Sam, occupation: Programmer}, callbackMethod). jQuery also supplies get, post and an advanced ajax method for more complex systems.

I could go on and on about all the little things that make you think "Wow, why haven't i done it like this before!". But before i sign off, i have to mention the documentation. It's great. It covers everything you need, and there's a great community to help you out.

Want one last reason to try jQuery?... it's the underdog!

Here's some sites to help you get started:
Basic tutorial
15 Days of jQuery- i love the style sheet switcher
Visual jQuery - the best jQuery resource for developing