Discussion: Can truly professional brower apps be made with a JS library?

[haku]

I used to do all my javascript in pure javascript. I would write everything in JS, then cross-browser check it to make sure it worked properly on all the major browsers.

 

After making sure I had a solid working knowledge of JS, I switched to JQuery. I love it - it's an amazing little script.

 

But what I'm undecided about is whether a library like JQuery enables, or limits. Does it enable better coding, or limit the possibilities of coding? It's been excellent for me up until now, and I use it for everything these days, but I'm wondering what others think, particularly those in the industry.

 

 

[KevinM1]

When used properly, frameworks enhance creativity.  They free us from having to worry about the low-level stuff in order to concentrate on the code that actually does stuff.  Of course, frameworks can be used as a crutch, but the same can be said of any programming aide.  So long as you have a general idea of how the language works and what the framework is doing under the hood, I don't see a danger.  jQuery in particular is nice in that in many cases one still needs to write some vanilla JS along side it.

 

Regarding whether or not using 3rd party code is professional or 'good/right', I think every coder asks themselves whether or not using someone else's code somehow diminishes their work.  There's an implicit question of trust buried there, too - can I trust this code that I did not write?  This is actually a bit of psychology that has a name: Not Invented Here.

 

The answer is that it's perfectly professional to use these tools.  They're proven and increase productivity.  It'd be unprofessional NOT to take advantage of things that can make your job easier.  Also, do you play games?  Ever notice how many use the Unreal Engine?  Or the PhysX physics library?  Same thing on a more complex scale.