What exactly does one use JQueryUI for?

Question

I'm a bit confused about the exact use cases for jqueryui. What do you use it for?

And why?

Answer 1

I think it is similar to http://script.aculo.us/. A javascript-based widget library for websites.

Answer 2

I used it for an Adobe AIR project.

The tabs worked well, as did the modal alert, and I was able to theme my divs with Themeroller, but I wasn't pleased with much else. Just aren't enough good gadgets in it. I'd probably hit ExtJS next time I tried a heavily-gadgeted RIA. I would have used ExtJS by now, except the license confuses me every time I look at it.

I can't quite figure out who would be satisfied with jQueryUI at this point, but maybe as more "stuff" rolls in it will be worth using. But progress on the widgets seems glacial to me.

Also, I was irritated that "hover" and "click" aren't differentiated. Hover over a date in the datepicker, then click & hold (don't release). Did you see anything to indicate that you clicked?

So, having used it, I too am a bit confused about the exact use cases. However, I know some of the guys from Twitter. I really like them, and I wish them well as it shapes up.

Answer 3

If you're working on a rich, interactive UI you'll find jQuery UI interactions such as draggable, droppable, resizable etc to be a handy base to build upon. These things aren't straightforward to code yourself.

jQuery UI is not really designed to make your website pretty, as someone suggested - its primary purpose is to provide helpful javascript tools to facilitate a few common user interactions. If you're making an information-intensive CMS-based site, this might not be very helpful. However, if you're building a spreadsheet app or a wysiwyg editor or a sophisticated dashboard -- in short, a highly interactive app -- then jQuery UI will give you a good starting point.