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+---
+slug: jqueries
+title: "jQueries"
+date: "2022-09-11T07:23:10-04:00"
+draft: true
+---
+Several of my coworkers do not like [jQuery][].  A lot of folks say
+that the modern [DOM][] and cross-browser compatibility are now good
+enough that [you might not need jQuery][].  Other common arguments
+against [jQuery][] are code bloat and security.
+
+My personal opinion is a bit more nuanced.  I agree that [jQuery][]
+isn't *necessary* for new projects and that the modern [DOM][] is
+usually sufficient.
+
+That said, [if it ain't broke, don't fix it][fix].  It often takes 
+less effort to maintain [jQuery][] in an existing application than it
+does to remove [jQuery][] and replace it with something else.
+
+Also, consistency is important.  If a team of developers is working on
+several applications, then consistency between code bases is often more
+important than using the latest technology or the best technique.
+Using consistent dependencies, idioms, and formatting reduces the
+[cognitive load][] for the entire team.
+
+In the case where a team is creating a new application and that team
+already maintains several existing [jQuery][] applications, I would
+argue in favor of using [jQuery][] for the new application as long as
+the version of [jQuery][] is kept up to date.
+
+Even as someone who [cares about page size][shrinkage] and [literally
+measures JavaScript size by the byte][js-byte-size]), I don't
+find the arguments about bloat compelling; [jQuery 3.6.1][] (the current
+version as of this writing) is 90kb minified, and 30kb compressed. Slim
+builds are even smaller (73kb and 25kb, respectively).  That is
+relatively small 
+
+[jquery]: https://jquery.com/
+  "jQuery"
+[you might not need jquery]: https://youmightnotneedjquery.com/
+  "You might not need jQuery."
+[dom]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document_Object_Model
+  "Document Object Model"
+[fix]: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/if+it+ain%27t+broke%2c+don%27t+fix+it
+  "If something is performing or functioning well enough, there's no need to change or interfere with it as you may introduce new problems as a result."
+[cognitive load]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_load
+  "Measure of perceived mental effort."
+[jquery 3.6.1]: https://blog.jquery.com/2022/08/26/jquery-3-6-1-maintenance-release/
+  "jQuery 3.6.1, the current version of jQuery as of this writing."
+[shrinkage]: {{< relref "posts/2022-01-28-media-shrinkage.md" >}}
+  "Post about compressing media assets and enabling compression in Apache."
+[js-byte-size]: https://git.pablotron.org/sites/pablotron.org/plain/themes/hugo-pt2021/assets/script.js
+  "Comment about byte count from unminified JavaScript for this site."
+[javascript]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaScript
+  "JavaScript programming language."