Gov.uk drops jQuery from their front end

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  • jQuery

    jQuery JavaScript Library

  • I don't like jQuery -- I mean I use it but it doesn't occupy enough brain space to even have a strong opinion on it either way. If I took jQuery out then I'd have to care more because would need to re-implement all the pieces of jQuery that my projects already use. Is that going to be 280k worth? No. Is going to be a couple of one-liners? No, because jQuery hides a lot of complexity under it's relatively simple API that take a lot of JavaScript to reproduce.

    It's not crazy that to accomplish what jQuery accomplishes without jQuery you're going to need almost the same amount of code as jQuery. It's not re-implementing the DOM -- it's a pretty thin but broad wrapper. If you don't need something, remove it.

    https://github.com/jquery/jquery#how-to-build-your-own-jquer...

  • axios

    Promise based HTTP client for the browser and node.js

  • Fetch API is fine, but Axios[0] gives you a lot more flexibility. The best thing I like is the request/response interceptor. You can do cool stuff like injecting tokens into outgoing requests, retry failed requests, centralized error handling. Because of adapters, it works both in browser environment as well as Node.js environment. Heck, you can even mock requests in your unit tests using a mock adapter[1] to avoid making actual HTTP requests. Sure there is a cost for adding dependency when you can just use native APIs, but in this case, I think it's worth it.

    [0] https://axios-http.com/

    [1] https://www.npmjs.com/package/axios-mock-adapter

  • SurveyJS

    Open-Source JSON Form Builder to Create Dynamic Forms Right in Your App. With SurveyJS form UI libraries, you can build and style forms in a fully-integrated drag & drop form builder, render them in your JS app, and store form submission data in any backend, inc. PHP, ASP.NET Core, and Node.js.

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  • uswds

    The U.S. Web Design System helps the federal government build fast, accessible, mobile-friendly websites.

  • I prefer USWDS for usability: https://designsystem.digital.gov/

    Gov UK design system is poorly usable. From color use to disorganized, scattered layout; it’s put together with haste and not much thought.

    What it’s good at is looking sexy which captivates a lot of people.

  • cash

    An absurdly small jQuery alternative for modern browsers. (by fabiospampinato)

  • I think it's a bit of both. jQuery served the purpose of making web development more sane back in the day by handling all browser quirks. Part of that was the nice syntax.

    I personally have tried to drop jQuery, but truthfully, its syntax is just much easier to use. Nowadays, I use Cash https://github.com/fabiospampinato/cash to give me the nice syntax without the bloat. It strikes the perfect balance for me.

  • umbrella

    :umbrella: Lightweight javascript library for DOM manipulation and events (by franciscop)

  • Yes, and if you continue long enough you end up with one of the many jQuery alternatives, like mine:

    https://umbrellajs.com/

  • govuk-puppet

    Discontinued Decommissioned: Puppet manifests that used to provision the legacy GOV.UK stack.

NOTE: The number of mentions on this list indicates mentions on common posts plus user suggested alternatives. Hence, a higher number means a more popular project.

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