Is it necessary to learn JavaScript before learning jQuery? [duplicate]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Is it a good idea to learn JavaScript before learning jQuery?

I am about to start learning JavaScript. However one friend suggested me to go in for jQuery instead since he says future is jQuery. I heard that jQuery is created from JavaScript.

In short, give me one simple reason why developers like me should invest in JavaScript. What is its future?

Answer 1

1. Part of being a good programmer is having an interest in understanding how things work. You can't understand how JQuery works without knowing JavaScript.

2. A good programmer has a diversity of skills. Knowing both the JQuery way to do things and the JavaScript-only way makes you more versatile.

3. Most employers who are looking for someone who knows JQuery are probably also looking for someone who knows ordinary JavaScript.

4. You can never achieve true expertise in JQuery without understanding JavaScript.

5. Sometimes even a fairly lightweight framework is more than you need.

6. If you don't ever learn to do things the hard way, you won't appreciate what's so great about doing it the easy way.

7. Moreover, if you start by learning to do things the easier way, you'll have that much harder a time motivating yourself to learn to do it the hard way.

8. Learning the language first without the fancy frameworks builds character.

9. Who knows, maybe you'll want to make your own framework someday. Or even work on a new version of JQuery. To do that, you'll need to know the language.

Answer 2

jQuery is JavaScript and yes, it makes things a lot easier for you and you can use it without much JavaScript knowledge, and yes, it will probably become even more popular in the future.

BUT: Wherever is jQuery, there will be JavaScript. jQuery is "just" a tool. You still need "plain" JavaScript to solve some problems, e.g. string manipulation.

Imho: You cannot master jQuery if you don't master JavaScript.

And there will be situations where jQuery might be not the best solution, e.g. when you really need high performance.

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For me, this is similar to other questions I read here on SO about web frameworks and programming languages, like: Do I have to learn/know PHP if I want to use [Zend | symfony | CodeIgniter].

Seriously: If you don't understand the basics, you cannot use a tool efficiently.