{
  "id": 5498512,
  "title": "Twenty Years of jQuery: How a Little Library Rewired Web Development",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/04/twenty-years-of-jquery-how-a-little-library-rewired-web-development",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-04T05:03:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "InfoQ",
    "slug": "infoq",
    "url": "https://www.infoq.com/news/2026/09/jquery-20-years/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Twenty years ago, on August 26th, 2006, jQuery 1.0 was launched, revolutionizing web development. John Resig, the creator, had originally demonstrated the library at BarCampNYC in January of that year, emphasizing that writing JavaScript should be enjoyable. Resig reflected on the web before jQuery, noting the challenges of document.getElementById, browser inconsistencies—especially with IE6—and the need for cumbersome JavaScript to create simple functionalities. jQuery's introduction simplified these hurdles, allowing developers to select elements using CSS syntax, chain operations, animate, and execute Ajax requests with just a few lines of code, all behaving consistently across browsers.\n\nThe library democratized front-end development, making JavaScript more accessible to designers and back-end developers who found the raw language intimidating. Industry publications like TechCrunch noted that libraries such as jQuery significantly lowered the entry barrier for building rich web applications. In its 10th anniversary post, the jQuery team highlighted the strong community of users and contributors who supported newcomers, praising the community's gratitude expressed through comments.\n\nHacker News users emphasized jQuery's dominance not just due to its feature set but also because it created a unified community for JavaScript developers. The library's ecosystem of plugins fostered a cohesive environment for JS development, impacting subsequent work positively. As frameworks like React and Angular gained traction, jQuery became synonymous with older, more procedural coding styles. Modern browsers are now equipped with native alternatives to jQuery's functionalities, leading to discussions about its relevance. While W3Techs reports jQuery's presence on approximately 66% of all websites, driven largely by platforms like WordPress, Drupal, Bootstrap, and Cypress, a growing number of developers argue for its continued use, citing its simplicity and foundational role in shaping the modern web.",
  "summary": "jQuery, created by John Resig and released in 2006, is a JavaScript library that simplifies HTML manipulation, event handling, animation, and Ajax. It enabled easier web development by providing an accessible API across browsers. While its use has declined with the rise of modern frameworks, jQuery remains prevalent on a significant portion of websites today. By Daniel Curtis",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}