What is the best way to learn JQuery?

Question

Hi I am newbie to ASP.NET MVC and jQuery. What is the best way to learn jQuery? Are there any good links, blogs, screencasts?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I'm learning it while trying to answer questions on JQuery here in Stackoverflow.

Answer 2

I would suggest familiarizing yourself with JavaScript first. Books from the likes of o'reilly are always a good resource.

As for jQuery, their documentation site is fantastic. http://docs.jquery.com

Good luck!

Answer 3

JQuery in action is the best book on this topic.

Answer 4

I've found that the best way to learn programming languages/frameworks is to go through the docs and play with them.

Answer 5

I always learn best with a project, a deadline and an unforgiving client.

Also "JQuery in Action" is a decent book.

Answer 6

Some ways that I learnt

• Get JQuery in ACtion book.

• tutorials on docs.jquery.com are pretty good as well

• nettuts and smashing magazine

Answer 7

I learned jQuery by reading 4pages article from php magazine. After short introduction just try demos form jQuery docs - that really is the best way. Don't waste time for reading books, it consumes a lot of time, and after that you will still have to test it yourself.

Answer 8

Build something. Try to build, say, a calculator application using clickable divs instead of buttons and storing data in the html content instead of in javascript variables. This kind of exercise will give you a crappy calculator but good experience in manipulating things.

Answer 9

The best way to learn is to start building something. You can take any personal project of yours and try to implement jQuery on it. Another good way to learn any technology is to take part in forums. You are at the right place (StackOverFlow)! There is a tag for JQuery which you can use to see all the JQuery questions. Try to find solution to the problems. This will help you and also the other person who is trying to look for the answer!

There is also a 38 Minute FREE JQuery Video that you might want to see to get started.

http://highoncoding.com/Videos/537_Extended_Screencast_on_JQuery_Whole_38_Minutes_.aspx

Answer 10

I struggled with jQuery in Action because I felt it was more of a reference manual as opposed to a tutorial. Maybe a year ago it was the best reference/tutorial, but now there are a bunch of other alternatives.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed the book Javascript: The Missing Manual because I felt it had better examples. Don't let the title of the book fool you, after a quick introduction to Javascript the author introduces you to jQuery and uses jQuery for the rest of the book.

I also purchased two PDF Books from Packt Publishing :

1) Learning jQuery 1.3

2) jQuery 1.6: The User Interface Library for jQuery

Both are recent publications and well written. You can often find "percentage off" discounts from your local user group or on the internet to apply to the purchase price of the downloadable PDF books.

If you're looking for a single book that covers both jQuery and the jQuery UI project, then this Wrox book might be useful: Beginning JavaScript and CSS Development with jQuery. A quick google search revealed that you can browse some of the contents of the book online at: Google Book Search - Beginning Javascript Development With Jquery By Richard York

I would actually recommend learning from samples posted on the web. There are a bunch over at:

Learning jQuery - a site related to the Packt book listed above

Encosia - ASP.NET, AJAX and more

ASP.NET and MVC jQuery related posts at Haacked

Rick Strahl's Web Log

Answer 11

The jQuery docs are very good. They also have a really cool api that you can use to easily navigate the docs, http://api.jquery.com.

I'm an ASP.NET developer and I found Rich Strahl's blog has a really good intro. An introduction to jQuery (2 Parts)

Answer 12

Nettuts has some very nice video tutorials, a great place to start at. jquery for absolute beginners

Answer 13

Read through every single section of this: http://api.jquery.com and you will know just about everything about it--not all the best practices, though... those come with time and experience. Your best bet is to think about something you want to do and then just do it while utilizing different pertinent parts of jQuery.

I originally learned using http://visualjquery.com/ but that hasn't been updated since 1.2.6 (because it is now the aforementioned api.jquery.com). I wouldn't be where I am with the library today if it weren't for those two websites (thank you Remy Sharp!).

Answer 14

The best way to learn jQuery is to code while you're at it. Now, I consider myself as a newbie in both Javascript and jQuery but I'm doing some personal projects that I'm going to release soon when I received my own server. The projects are small and jQuery related.

I develop plugins, animation plugins that animate the body of the page. I develop a slideshow for images. But you know what, I think jQuery really makes thing damn simple. Especially for animation.

I'm afraid that I'm gonna lose my knowledge in Javascript once I program in jQuery for too long.

I also recommend you to emulate the flash designs in Javascript. If you go to Gamespot.com, you'll see that their designs are flash. Try to do something similar using jQuery/Javascript.

Hey, and you got your own style of learning. I learn by reading the book. Once I finished reading the book I'll go sit down on my computer and program everything I learned. If I forgot something, I'll just open the book and find the reference. I found it the best way to learn programming. But you might have different style of learning. Maybe you prefer reading and programming at the same time. Or checking out the source code and learning from there.

Do some blogging in your portfolio. Detail how you created the jQuery plugins. Contribute to jQuery. Make people use your plugin. Share some love.

Answer 15

Step 1. Open up IDE

Step 2. Write code

Step 3. Test code

Step 4. Learn how to write better code