jQuery Overtakes Flash on World’s Top Websites
In a trend analysis of 17,000 top websites, jQuery now deployed more than Adobe Flash
DENVER, Co. Aug. 24, 2011 – appendTo, the company dedicated to jQuery, the world’s most popular JavaScript Library, released data today showing that the percentage of websites that have jQuery deployed has officially surpassed the percentage of websites that have Adobe Flash deployed. Statistics compiled by HTTP Archive (http://httparchive.org), which analyze the world’s top 17,000 websites, show that 48 percent of the sites use jQuery, while 47 percent use Flash.
“Developers are choosing jQuery over Flash for new development,” said Mike Hostetler, co-founder and CEO of appendTo. “This data confirms a trend that’s been a couple years in the making. More and more website developers are choosing jQuery and JavaScript over Flash and the rate at which this transformation is occurring is only accelerating.”
jQuery is an open source library that makes it quicker and easier to build JavaScript Web pages and Web applications. Often with jQuery you can use a single line of code to achieve what would have taken 10-20 lines of regular JavaScript code.
JavaScript is a scripting language that allows Web authors to create dynamic pages that respond to user interaction. JavaScript is widely used in browsers, mobile browsers, PDF’s and Internet televisions. jQuery, built on top of JavaScript, can be used to create slide shows, drop-down menus, pop-ups, expandable/collapsible elements and similar animations.
“There are three key technologies within a typical website: HTML, CSS and JavaScript. jQuery has been the leading JavaScript library, by far, for a quite a while. Now that it has eclipsed Flash, it is also the leading tool for creating interactive websites,” explained Jonathan Sharp, co-founder and president of appendTo.
jQuery has been extensively used across many browsers, from Internet Explorer 6 through the latest mobile browsers. "It just works," Sharp said. "jQuery works without the developer having to conduct additional testing to work around individual browser problems. Additionally jQuery is HTML5 ready and can be leveraged to innovate in that space."
“jQuery by nature has a simple syntax that makes it easy to learn,” Hostetler said. “This ease of use is a major reason for jQuery’s rapid adoption, in addition to the fact that it is open source instead of a proprietary product, like Flash. In just five years it has surpassed Adobe Flash, which has been around since 1996.”
“jQuery's growth has been phenomenal. The fact that it’s used on so many of the world’s top websites is a testimony to the outstanding work of the jQuery team," said Steve Souders, Web performance expert and creator of HTTP Archive.
The list of 17,000 top websites that HTTP Archive uses is generated from the following lists: Alexa 500, Alexa US 500, Alexa 10,000, Fortune 500, Global 500 and Quantcast10K.
HTTP Archive’s data can be found at http://httparchive.org/interesting.php.
Contact: Jeff Bradford/Erin Gagnon, 615.515.4888, info@bradfordgrp.com
About appendTo: appendTo, LLC (www.appendTo.com), known as “The Company Dedicated to jQuery,” is the leader in jQuery support, training and consulting. Offering training courses and development expertise in a variety of packages to suit the individual needs of clients, which include Microsoft, Research in Motion, E*TRADE and Walmart.com. Founded in 2009 by Mike Hostetler and Jonathan Sharp, the name “appendTo” comes from the jQuery Library and means “connecting things or people.” appendTo is passionate about connecting people, expanding the use of jQuery worldwide and providing front-end Web development support. A 100 percent virtual company, appendTo’s 10 employees are distributed across nine different cities. A member of the jQuery Community, appendTo supports the jQuery Project, a nonprofit organization that protects the copyright and license to the jQuery JavaScript Library.
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