Can anyone recommend any particularly compelling propoganda (papers or even better, video) on jQuery that would be suitable for a manager who knows very little about the technology?
My manager seems very reluctant to consider letting us use it, seeming to think it is yet another technology flavor of the month / flash in the pan.
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2008/09/28/jquery-and-microsoft.aspx
It's going to be built into Visual Studio from now on, if you don't do MS stuff that probably won't help, but it's a big propaganda boost!
Not sure if it will help much, but you could try showing them this post from ScottGu:
Explaining that jQuery is baked in to Visual Studio and ASP.NET...it'll at least get them over the hurdle that it's the flavor of the month (if Microsoft is including it, you can be pretty sure it's not going anywhere for a while).
if your manager requires to go into what is clearly not his position, just give him / her a link to jQuery.com
jQuery is a fast and concise JavaScript Library that simplifies HTML document traversing, event handling, animating, and Ajax interactions for rapid web development. jQuery is designed to change the way that you write JavaScript.
I would suggest approaching your manager with evidence along the following lines:
You might also list some of the high-profile jQuery users found on jquery.com.
If your manager is technical, consider showing him/her a comparison of plain JavaScript and jQuery to achieve a common task - the jQuery will be much smaller and easier to read/maintain.
jquery.com/about has a video with John Resig outlining the future of the Project.
Start taking him to sites that use JQuery. There are several listed on the JQuery site. Show him results that can be obtained with JQuery and how cool they are. Then pick some classic asp.NET sites that look and function like garbage. Compare. He'll come around.
Google
Amazon
Microsoft
Dell
Bank of America
If he is calling it a 'flavor of the month / flash in the pan' explain that it is not its own technology like WPF, Silverlight, Flash, etc.
It is simply a very powerful JavaScript library to use while working with JavaScript the same way C# developers use the .Net framework when writing C# code.