Beginning JavaScript, 5th Edition

16jQuery

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS CHAPTER:                

• Using jQuery can simplify common tasks
• Creating, modifying, and removing elements with jQuery is easier than with traditional DOM methods
• jQuery makes style modifications, both with individual CSS properties and CSS classes, a breeze
• Handling HTTP requests and responses is much easier than writing pure XMLHttpRequest code
• Deferred objects are useful, especially when used with Ajax requests

WROX.COM CODE DOWNLOADS FOR THIS CHAPTER

You can find the wrox.com code downloads for this chapter at http://www.wiley.com/go/BeginningJavaScript5E on the Download Code tab. You can also view all of the examples and related files at http://beginningjs.com.

JavaScript is essential to web development. And even though JavaScript development is relatively straightforward today, it was extremely challenging until early 2011 when Microsoft released the ninth version of Internet Explorer.

Let’s rewind the clock to the year 2001. The first browser wars were coming to a close, and Microsoft sealed its overwhelming victory with IE6’s release. A few months later the software giant released Windows XP, the longest-supported operating system in Microsoft’s history, with IE6 as its default browser.

At first, Microsoft enjoyed its 85 percent market share, but as the years passed, growing pressure from Mozilla’s Firefox spurred Microsoft to resume development on IE. In 2006, Microsoft released IE7. This new version included many bug fixes, as ...