People often say funny things about the two and while some would hate JavaScript, but many believe it has created a lot of modern day programming tools that made creating websites more fun and playful. Well, it’s true that there would be no jQuery without JavaScript but people often brainstorm a lot confusing both the terms, especially while bringing interactive content to websites. What’s the difference between JavaScript and jQuery? In order to understand the difference between the two, you have to understand a bit about the code. Well, one may be better than the other in many ways, but the functionality remains the same. Let’s look at the difference between the two in detail.

What is JavaScript?

JavaScript is a high-level multi-paradigm dynamic programming language of HTML and the Web that is used to improve interactivity on websites. Often abbreviated simply as JS, JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that that is used inside web browsers for interface interactions such as responses, games, animation, dynamic styling, etc. It’s a versatile yet sophisticated language used for programming on the web. JavaScript is one of the core technologies of content production of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. It’s very flexible with first class functions. Though, it’s a scripting language, it can also be used for non-browser environments.

JavaScript can be used as a procedural as well as an object oriented language. In fact, it can do much more than you can anticipate. It’s a powerful scripting language that creates functionality and features to provide a rich use experience. Almost every website uses JavaScript for interactive content and every web browser supports it with the help of a built-in JavaScript engine without having to use plug-ins. In simple terms, JavaScript brings web pages to life. The programs are called “scripts” which can be written in the HTML and further executed as the page finished loading.

JavaScript is a fully independent language with no association with Java at all. With JavaScript, you can create everything from carousels to slide shows to image galleries and fluctuating layouts. Furthermore, you can also create high-level animations, 3D graphics, games, data-driven applications,         pointer movements, etc. JavaScript was initially implemented on client-side browsers, but they are evolved now to provide functionality and features for all types of host software including server-side in databases and web servers. Modern tools and functionalities have made JavaScript an efficient scripting language.

What is jQuery?

jQuery is an efficient yet fast JavaScript library that simplifies HTML document traversing, animation, event handling, and interaction handling for Ajax. It’s a cross-platform feature-rich scripting library specially designed to handle client-side scripting of HTML. The syntax of jQuery is so designed to make things simple such as animations, HTML elements, event listeners, etc. Things are much easier with jQuery which is very light-weight and fast, and support all types of web browsers. The idea is to make it easy for developers to use JavaScript on websites in order to make it more interactive and user-friendly with less coding of-course.

Unlike JavaScript, jQuery is not a language – it’s a precisely-written JavaScript code that is included in a single .js file. With so many in-built functions and user-friendly features, developers can accomplish so many tasks much efficiently and easily. And the best part, it can easily handle cross-browser issues, making it easy for you to do more with less code. It efficiently accomplishes the common tasks which would otherwise require many lines of coding and binds them together into methods with just a single line of code, thereby increasing productivity of the developer. Additionally, you don’t have to learn new syntaxes to use jQuery, which in fact eliminates the need to write hundreds of lines of codes.

Difference between JavaScript and jQuery

1.  JavaScript vs  jQuery in terms of “Function”: Although the name suggests both the terms must be somehow related, they are very different from each other. While JavaScript is a high-level interpreted programming language, jQuery is a cross-platform scripting library which uses JavaScript syntaxes to improve web browser interactivity.
2. JavaScript vs  jQuery in terms of “Purpose”: While both serve the same purpose – that is to make developer’s work as simple as possible – jQuery is rather efficient and user-friendly that makes complex things simpler with only a few lines of code, which would otherwise require several lines of code with raw JavaScript.
3. JavaScript vs  jQuery in terms of “Performance”: You will need a full understanding and syntax information of JavaScript to make the most out of jQuery. However, jQuery is a framework of JavaScript which cannot live by itself. In fact, it uses resources offered by JavaScript to make things simpler while manipulating DOM, including a lot of tasks.
4. JavaScript vs  jQuery in terms of “Script”: You need to write your own script while using JavaScript which eventually would take time. jQuery, on the other hand, does not require hundreds of lines of code. The scripts already exist in libraries.
5. JavaScript vs  jQuery in terms of “Features”: jQuery makes it easier for the developers to accomplish several tasks rather than using just raw JavaScript. jQuery is fast, light-weight, and feature-rich which makes things like event handling, animation, HTML document traversing, and Ajax handling much easier than with simple JavaScript.

 JavaScript vs. jQuery:  Comparison Chart to show the difference  between JavaScript and jQuery

Summary:  JavaScript vs. jQuery

While both resemble a lot in terms of functionality and features, they are very different in many ways. While JavaScript is an independent programming language, jQuery is a cross-platform JavaScript library. While the name suggests that they must be related somehow, they have their fair share of differences. jQuery is a built-in JavaScript library that uses syntaxes given by JavaScript to make things simple for developers so that they could accomplish tasks with minimal lines of coding. While both are client-side scripting language, JavaScript can live by itself unlike jQuery, which is built on top of JavaScript.

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