Many times throughout my web developing career, questions have arisen from those around me. What exactly do you do? What kind of websites do you develop? What computer programming languages do you know? But there is one question that really stands out to me. What is the difference between JavaScript and jQuery? This question isn’t usually asked by family and friends, instead I often get this question from co-workers or people that work in a related field (Graphic Designers, SEO Specialists, Content Writers, Marketing Coordinators, etc…). In this article I will use my understanding and expertise of the World Wide Web to explain the difference to you.
What is JavaScript?
JavaScript is mainly used as a frontend scripting language and is designed for use within a web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, etc…). Typically any sort of animation or interaction on any website uses JavaScript to make it happen. Take for instance image sliders, carousels or fancy popups. All these animations and interactions, on almost every website, use the great JavaScript scripting language to perform such intricate tasks.
What is jQuery?
JQuery is JavaScript. Confusing right? Well let me clear that up a bit. What I mean is that jQuery is a library of JavaScript that is open source for all web developers to use. It allows web programmers to work around bugs without wasting their time debugging one problem after another. It also reduces the amount of code needed to do something as simple as fading in a photo on your website. Basically jQuery’s optimization of JavaScript simplifies EVERYTHING for programmers.
So now when someone asks you “What is the difference between JavaScript and jQuery?” you can easily answer with confidence and knowledge.