Happy 10th Anniversary to jQuery- JavaScript’s most popular library now used by 77.8% of top sites

jQuery, the most popular library for JavaScript around the web, is now 10 years old and this anniversary also brings the release of jQuery 3.0 Beta.

jQuery is a free open-source software library that lets developers using JavaScript create dynamic web pages and web applications. John Resig, an American software engineer, launched jQuery in his college days and ten years after its release in January 2006, it is installed on over 77.8% of the top Million highest-trafficked sites on the web today.

“Today marks the 10th anniversary of the release of jQuery”, said Resig in a blog post. “I announced it back at BarCamp NYC 2006 when I was still in college. It’s incredible to think of how far it’s come and just how many people have contributed to its success. To them I am forever grateful, thank you.”

This occasion also marked the release of jQuery’s first major update as jQuery 3.0 dropped the “Compact” moniker, and entered the Beta testing stage. Previously, there wer two branches of jQuery that have been maintained over the past few years. In an attempt to be smaller and faster, jQuery 2.0 didn’t support versions of Internet Explorer prior to IE9 and jQuery 1.0 had to be continued to be developed to cater for IE8. But the new jQuery 3.0 is the single version to upgrade both of them.

Resig stepped down from jQuery in 2011 and since 2012, the library has been controlled by the jQuery foundation, which is responsible for continued development and stewardship. Even though many developers are of the view that there is no need for jQuery as almost everything it does can be done in pure JavaScript, the usage stats clearly indicate that jQuery still remains(and will remain for quite some time) one of the most used parts of the web developers community.

Source- Resig