Tell me more ×
Programmers Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professional programmers interested in conceptual questions about software development. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite

I'm reading a chapter on jQuery in a ASP.NET book. To be honest I'm finding it quite boring.

How important is it to learn jQuery? And do many ASP.NET developers use it for their pages?

Regards TDG

share|improve this question
If you are having trouble with JQuery, getting a better understanding of client-side coding and how AJAX works (without forms) might help. I also found JQuery boring with ASP .NET, because the WinForms covers up a lot of what happens with AJAX and client-side stuff. When I transitioned to ASP .NET MVC, however, I found that all that client-side stuff wasn't covered up anymore, and JQuery became both more useful and more interesting. – Ethel Evans Mar 7 '11 at 19:47

6 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

It is not at all important to learn jQuery with ASP.Net. Many people find it useful, but the two are not even remotely related. It is entirely possible to build a full-featured, useful website with ASP.Net and not ever once touch jQuery. It is a common framework, and quite powerful if you have need of its capabilities, but it has nothing to do with .Net.

There are a lot of people on this site who are manic about jQuery in that they believe every site/page should have jQuery built in and used when, in truth, it's just a framework. If you have need of its capabilities, then it's absolutely recommended because it's quick, easy and understandable. If you aren't making use of it on a regular basis, then you're just wasting overhead on loading a framework that you don't need.

That being said, I would still recommend that you tough it out and make it through the chapter because you may find that jQuery holds framework functionality that you were unaware of but would find useful. It's not necessary, but i could be very, very helpful.

Edit: I forgot to answer your last question. Yes, it is a very popular framework that is so common that Microsoft included it in the ASP.Net MVC distributions as a standard.

share|improve this answer
I like the slideUp() method, a demo I saw hiding an entire form after submission. – TeaDrinkingGeek Mar 7 '11 at 15:37
1  
@TeaDrinkingGeek - Yah, I love jQuery personally. I use it in all kinds of sites. I've seen some really bad-to-the-bone stuff done with it. It is a bit of a sledge hammer though. I've seen people recommend jQuery even if all you're using is document.getElementById(). Overkill. – Joel Etherton Mar 7 '11 at 15:41
up vote 5 down vote

If you are doing dynamic web pages with Javascript you should be using JQuery or another similar tool, such as Prototype, YUI etc. JQuery is probably the best of them.

The reason for this is that the DOM interfaces are really rather poorly thought out and often buggy. I have heard it said that every major interface in the DOM has at least one major bug in one browser. By using JQuery you create a layer over the DOM that is consistent and well tested.

It is possible that the chapter in that book is just poorly written. There are a number of very good JQuery resources around the net, starting with the JQuery web site.

share|improve this answer
up vote 1 down vote

JQuery is quite wonderful with ASP.NET MVC. If you are going to extend your learning curve after web form, I think JQuery is going to help you a lot.

share|improve this answer
1  
+1 - I just went through the learning curve of moving from ASP .NET to ASP .NET MVC 2. For server-side code, it's an easy transition. For client-side / AJAX stuff, it's a very difficult transition. A much better understanding of how AJAX works and what it is is needed. Learning a little JQuery was a very important part of that transition, for me. – Ethel Evans Mar 7 '11 at 19:43
@Ethel Evans I bet you will love MVC 3 with razor engine. It is quite easier to write and read than MVC 2. – Chris May 30 '11 at 9:36
up vote 0 down vote

If you're never going to use JavaScript, you can skip it.
If you're ever going to use AJAX you're going to need to use JavaScript.

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

It depends on what type of developer you want to be. I wont hire a Sr. Programmer that doesn't know javascript with at least a cursory bit of knowledge about JQuery, however if your at a more junior point in your career and just looking to narrow your focus for the near future then I'd say that JQuery is not needed knowledge.

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

From experience I never thought I would have to learn jQuery for ASP.Net development. But over time I have been proven wrong. This has more to do with just general web development as opposed to .Net vs jQuery development. There is so much focus on jQuery and the use of it that eventually you come upon some piece of functionality that you cannot easily reproduce in .Net. You will find knowing the basics of how jQuery works and how to effectively integrate it with your apps will save you a lot of time down the road. And I will echo what others have said making if you make the move to the MVC framework in the future jQuery integration is one things you will need to know to effectively use it.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.