License

September 17, 2026 · View on GitHub

You (Might) Don't Need jQuery

Frontend environments evolve rapidly nowadays and modern browsers have already implemented a great deal of DOM/BOM APIs which are good enough for production use. We don't have to learn jQuery from scratch for DOM manipulation or event handling. In the meantime, thanks to the spread of frontend libraries such as React, Angular and Vue, manipulating the DOM directly becomes anti-pattern, so that jQuery usage has never been less important. This project summarizes most of the alternatives in native JavaScript implementation to jQuery methods.

Snippets target current evergreen browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari). Internet Explorer is no longer supported by Microsoft, so IE-specific fallbacks have been removed. If you still need them, see the last IE-compatible version.

ℹ️ Notice:

  1. jQuery is still a great library and has many valid use cases. Don’t migrate away if you don’t want to!
  2. The alternatives are not completely equivalent in all scenarios, and it is recommended that you test it before using it.

Table of Contents

  1. Translations
  2. Query Selector
  3. CSS & Style
  4. DOM Manipulation
  5. Ajax
  6. Events
  7. Utilities
  8. Promises
  9. Animation
  10. Alternatives
  11. Browser Support

Translations

Query Selector

In place of common selectors like class, id or attribute we can use document.querySelector or document.querySelectorAll for substitution. The differences lie in:

  • document.querySelector returns the first matched element
  • document.querySelectorAll returns all matched elements as a static NodeList. It supports forEach, and can be converted to Array using Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(selector)) or any of the methods outlined in makeArray
  • If there are no elements matched, jQuery returns an empty jQuery object and document.querySelectorAll returns an empty NodeList, whereas document.querySelector returns null.

Notice: document.getElementById, document.getElementsByClassName and document.getElementsByTagName are slightly faster than querySelector*, but getElementsBy* return a live HTMLCollection that changes as the DOM changes. Prefer querySelector* unless you have measured a bottleneck.

  • 1.0 Query by selector

    // jQuery
    $('selector');
    
    // Native
    document.querySelectorAll('selector');
    
  • 1.1 Query by class

    // jQuery
    $('.class');
    
    // Native
    document.querySelectorAll('.class');
    
    // or
    document.getElementsByClassName('class');
    
  • 1.2 Query by id

    // jQuery
    $('#id');
    
    // Native
    document.querySelector('#id');
    
    // or
    document.getElementById('id');
    
  • 1.3 Query by attribute

    // jQuery
    $('a[target=_blank]');
    
    // Native
    document.querySelectorAll('a[target=_blank]');
    
  • 1.4 Query in descendants

    // jQuery
    $el.find('li');
    
    // Native
    el.querySelectorAll('li');
    
  • 1.5 Sibling/Previous/Next Elements

    • All siblings

      // jQuery
      $el.siblings();
      
      // Native
      [...el.parentNode.children].filter((child) =>
        child !== el
      );
      
    • Previous sibling

      // jQuery
      $el.prev();
      
      // Native
      el.previousElementSibling;
      
    • Next sibling

      // jQuery
      $el.next();
      
      // Native
      el.nextElementSibling;
      
    • All previous siblings

      // jQuery (optional filter selector)
      $el.prevAll($filter);
      
      // Native (optional filter function)
      function getPreviousSiblings(elem, filter) {
        const sibs = [];
        while ((elem = elem.previousElementSibling)) {
          if (!filter || filter(elem)) sibs.push(elem);
        }
        return sibs;
      }
      
    • All next siblings

      // jQuery (optional selector filter)
      $el.nextAll($filter);
      
      // Native (optional filter function)
      function getNextSiblings(elem, filter) {
        const sibs = [];
        while ((elem = elem.nextElementSibling)) {
          if (!filter || filter(elem)) sibs.push(elem);
        }
        return sibs;
      }
      

      An example of filter function:

      function exampleFilter(elem) {
        switch (elem.nodeName.toUpperCase()) {
          case 'DIV':
            return true;
          case 'SPAN':
            return true;
          default:
            return false;
        }
      }
      
  • 1.6 Closest

    Return the first matched element by provided selector, traversing from current element up through its ancestors in the DOM tree.

    // jQuery
    $el.closest(selector);
    
    // Native
    el.closest(selector);
    
  • 1.7 Parents Until

    Get the ancestors of each element in the current set of matched elements, up to but not including the element matched by the selector, DOM node, or jQuery object.

    // jQuery
    $el.parentsUntil(selector, filter);
    
    // Native
    function parentsUntil(el, selector, filter) {
      const result = [];
    
      // match start from parent
      el = el.parentElement;
      while (el && !el.matches(selector)) {
        if (!filter || el.matches(filter)) {
          result.push(el);
        }
        el = el.parentElement;
      }
      return result;
    }
    
  • 1.8 Form

    • Input/Textarea

      // jQuery
      $('#my-input').val();
      
      // Native
      document.querySelector('#my-input').value;
      
    • Get index of e.currentTarget between .radio

      // jQuery
      $('.radio').index(e.currentTarget);
      
      // Native
      [...document.querySelectorAll('.radio')].indexOf(e.currentTarget);
      
  • 1.9 Iframe Contents

    $('iframe').contents() returns contentDocument for this specific iframe

    • Iframe contents

      // jQuery
      $iframe.contents();
      
      // Native
      iframe.contentDocument;
      
    • Iframe Query

      // jQuery
      $iframe.contents().find('.css');
      
      // Native
      iframe.contentDocument.querySelectorAll('.css');
      
  • 1.10 Get body

    // jQuery
    $('body');
    
    // Native
    document.body;
    
  • 1.11 Attribute getter and setter

    • Get an attribute

      // jQuery
      $el.attr('foo');
      
      // Native
      el.getAttribute('foo');
      
    • Set an attribute

      // jQuery
      $el.attr('foo', 'bar');
      
      // Native
      el.setAttribute('foo', 'bar');
      
    • Get a data- attribute

      // jQuery
      $el.data('foo');
      
      // Native
      el.dataset.foo;
      
      // or
      el.getAttribute('data-foo');
      
  • 1.12 Selector containing string (case-sensitive)

    // jQuery
    $("selector:contains('text')");
    
    // Native
    function contains(selector, text) {
      const elements = document.querySelectorAll(selector);
      return Array.from(elements).filter((element) =>
        element.textContent.includes(text)
      );
    }
    

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CSS & Style

  • 2.1 CSS

    • Get style

      // jQuery
      $el.css('color');
      
      // Native
      // NOTE: returns the resolved value, e.g. 'rgb(255, 0, 17)' rather than '#f01'
      getComputedStyle(el).color;
      
    • Set style

      // jQuery
      $el.css({ color: '#f01' });
      
      // Native
      el.style.color = '#f01';
      
    • Set multiple styles

      // jQuery
      $el.css({ color: '#f01', 'border-color': '#f02' });
      
      // Native
      Object.assign(el.style, { color: '#f01', borderColor: '#f02' });
      
    • Add class

      // jQuery
      $el.addClass(className);
      
      // Native
      el.classList.add(className);
      
    • Remove class

      // jQuery
      $el.removeClass(className);
      
      // Native
      el.classList.remove(className);
      
    • has class

      // jQuery
      $el.hasClass(className);
      
      // Native
      el.classList.contains(className);
      
    • Toggle class

      // jQuery
      $el.toggleClass(className);
      
      // Native
      el.classList.toggle(className);
      
  • 2.2 Width & Height

    Width and Height are theoretically identical, take Height as example:

    • Window height

      // jQuery
      $(window).height();
      
      // without scrollbar, behaves like jQuery
      window.document.documentElement.clientHeight;
      
      // with scrollbar
      window.innerHeight;
      
    • Document height

      // jQuery
      $(document).height();
      
      // Native
      const body = document.body;
      const html = document.documentElement;
      const height = Math.max(
        body.offsetHeight,
        body.scrollHeight,
        html.clientHeight,
        html.offsetHeight,
        html.scrollHeight
      );
      
    • Element height

      // jQuery
      $el.height();
      
      // Native
      function getHeight(el) {
        const styles = window.getComputedStyle(el);
        const height = el.offsetHeight;
        const borderTopWidth = parseFloat(styles.borderTopWidth);
        const borderBottomWidth = parseFloat(styles.borderBottomWidth);
        const paddingTop = parseFloat(styles.paddingTop);
        const paddingBottom = parseFloat(styles.paddingBottom);
        return height - borderBottomWidth - borderTopWidth - paddingTop - paddingBottom;
      }
      
      // accurate to integer (when `border-box`, it's `height - border`; when `content-box`, it's `height + padding`)
      el.clientHeight;
      
      // accurate to decimal (when `border-box`, it's `height`; when `content-box`, it's `height + padding + border`)
      el.getBoundingClientRect().height;
      
  • 2.3 Position & Offset

    • Position

      Get the current coordinates of the element relative to the offset parent.

      // jQuery
      $el.position();
      
      // Native
      const position = { left: el.offsetLeft, top: el.offsetTop };
      
    • Offset

      Get the current coordinates of the element relative to the document.

      // jQuery
      $el.offset();
      
      // Native
      function getOffset (el) {
        const box = el.getBoundingClientRect();
      
        return {
          top: box.top + window.scrollY,
          left: box.left + window.scrollX
        };
      }
      
  • 2.4 Scroll Top

    Get the current vertical position of the scroll bar for the element.

    // jQuery
    $(window).scrollTop();
    
    // Native
    window.scrollY;
    

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DOM Manipulation

  • 3.1 Remove

    Remove the element from the DOM.

    // jQuery
    $el.remove();
    
    // Native
    el.remove();
    
  • 3.2 Text

    • Get text

      Get the combined text contents of the element including their descendants,

      // jQuery
      $el.text();
      
      // Native
      el.textContent;
      
    • Set text

      Set the content of the element to the specified text.

      // jQuery
      $el.text(string);
      
      // Native
      el.textContent = string;
      
  • 3.3 HTML

    • Get HTML

      // jQuery
      $el.html();
      
      // Native
      el.innerHTML;
      
    • Set HTML

      // jQuery
      $el.html(htmlString);
      
      // Native
      el.innerHTML = htmlString;
      
  • 3.4 Append

    Append child element after the last child of parent element

    // jQuery: unified syntax for DOMString and Node objects
    $parent.append(newEl | '<div id="container">Hello World</div>');
    
    // Native (Element or text): strings are inserted as plain text, not parsed as HTML
    parent.append(newEl | 'Hello World');
    
    // Native (HTML string)
    parent.insertAdjacentHTML('beforeend', '<div id="container">Hello World</div>');
    
  • 3.5 Prepend

    // jQuery: unified syntax for DOMString and Node objects
    $parent.prepend(newEl | '<div id="container">Hello World</div>');
    
    // Native (Element or text): strings are inserted as plain text, not parsed as HTML
    parent.prepend(newEl | 'Hello World');
    
    // Native (HTML string)
    parent.insertAdjacentHTML('afterbegin', '<div id="container">Hello World</div>');
    
  • 3.6 insertBefore

    Insert a new node before the selected elements

    // jQuery
    $newEl.insertBefore(selector);
    
    const el = document.querySelector(selector);
    
    // Native (Element)
    el.before(newEl);
    
    // Native (HTML string)
    el.insertAdjacentHTML('beforebegin', '<div id="container">Hello World</div>');
    
  • 3.7 insertAfter

    Insert a new node after the selected elements

    // jQuery
    $newEl.insertAfter(selector);
    
    const el = document.querySelector(selector);
    
    // Native (Element)
    el.after(newEl);
    
    // Native (HTML string)
    el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', '<div id="container">Hello World</div>');
    
  • 3.8 is

    Return true if it matches the query selector

    // jQuery - Notice `is` also works with a function, an existing jQuery object or a DOM element, which are not of concern here
    $el.is(selector);
    
    // Native
    el.matches(selector);
    
  • 3.9 clone

    Create a deep copy of an element: it copies the matched element as well as all of its descendant elements and text nodes.

    // jQuery. Pass `true` to also copy event handlers and data.
    $el.clone();
    
    // Native. Pass `true` for a deep copy; event listeners are never copied.
    el.cloneNode(true);
    
  • 3.10 empty

    Remove all child nodes

    // jQuery
    $el.empty();
    
    // Native
    el.replaceChildren();
    
  • 3.11 wrap

    Wrap an HTML structure around each element

    // jQuery
    $('.inner').wrap('<div class="wrapper"></div>');
    
    // Native
    document.querySelectorAll('.inner').forEach((el) => {
      const wrapper = document.createElement('div');
      wrapper.className = 'wrapper';
      el.before(wrapper);
      wrapper.append(el);
    });
    
  • 3.12 unwrap

    Remove the parents of the set of matched elements from the DOM

    // jQuery
    $('.inner').unwrap();
    
    // Native
    new Set([...document.querySelectorAll('.inner')].map((el) => el.parentElement))
      .forEach((parent) => {
        if (parent !== document.body) {
          parent.replaceWith(...parent.childNodes);
        }
      });
    
  • 3.13 replaceWith

    Replace each element in the set of matched elements with the provided new content

    // jQuery
    $('.inner').replaceWith('<div class="outer"></div>');
    
    // Native
    document.querySelectorAll('.inner').forEach((el) => {
      const outer = document.createElement('div');
      outer.className = 'outer';
      el.replaceWith(outer);
    });
    
  • 3.14 simple parse

    Parse a string into HTML/SVG/XML

    // jQuery
    $(`<ol>
      <li>a</li>
      <li>b</li>
    </ol>
    <ol>
      <li>c</li>
      <li>d</li>
    </ol>`);
    
    // Native
    function parse(html) {
      const template = document.createElement('template');
      template.innerHTML = html;
      return template.content;
    }
    
    parse(`<ol>
      <li>a</li>
      <li>b</li>
    </ol>
    <ol>
      <li>c</li>
      <li>d</li>
    </ol>`);
    

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Ajax

Fetch API is the standard replacement for XMLHttpRequest and works in all modern browsers. Unlike $.ajax, fetch does not reject on HTTP error status such as 404 or 500; check response.ok yourself. For JSONP, try fetch-jsonp.

  • 4.0 Request JSON

    // jQuery
    $.getJSON(url).done(handleData).fail(handleError);
    
    // Native
    fetch(url)
      .then((response) => {
        if (!response.ok) {
          throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}`);
        }
        return response.json();
      })
      .then(handleData)
      .catch(handleError);
    
  • 4.0.1 Post JSON

    // jQuery
    $.ajax({
      url,
      method: 'POST',
      contentType: 'application/json',
      data: JSON.stringify(data),
    });
    
    // Native
    fetch(url, {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
      body: JSON.stringify(data),
    });
    
  • 4.0.2 Abort and timeout

    // jQuery
    const jqXHR = $.ajax({ url, timeout: 5000 });
    jqXHR.abort();
    
    // Native
    const controller = new AbortController();
    fetch(url, { signal: controller.signal });
    controller.abort();
    
    // Native (timeout)
    fetch(url, { signal: AbortSignal.timeout(5000) });
    
  • 4.1 Load data from the server and place the returned HTML into the matched element.

    // jQuery
    $(selector).load(url, completeCallback)
    
    // Native
    fetch(url)
      .then((response) => response.text())
      .then((html) => {
        document.querySelector(selector).innerHTML = html;
      })
      .then(completeCallback);
    

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Events

  • 5.0 Document ready by DOMContentLoaded

    // jQuery
    $(document).ready(eventHandler);
    
    // Native
    // Check if the DOMContentLoaded has already been completed
    if (document.readyState !== 'loading') {
      eventHandler();
    } else {
      document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', eventHandler);
    }
    
    // Or load your script with `<script defer>` or `<script type="module">`,
    // which runs after the document has been parsed.
    
  • 5.1 Bind an event with on

    // jQuery
    $el.on(eventName, eventHandler);
    
    // Native
    el.addEventListener(eventName, eventHandler);
    
  • 5.1.1 Bind an event once with one

    // jQuery
    $el.one(eventName, eventHandler);
    
    // Native
    el.addEventListener(eventName, eventHandler, { once: true });
    
  • 5.1.2 Event delegation

    // jQuery
    $el.on(eventName, selector, eventHandler);
    
    // Native
    el.addEventListener(eventName, (event) => {
      const target = event.target.closest(selector);
      if (target && el.contains(target)) {
        eventHandler.call(target, event);
      }
    });
    
  • 5.2 Unbind an event with off

    // jQuery
    $el.off(eventName, eventHandler);
    
    // Native
    el.removeEventListener(eventName, eventHandler);
    
    // Native: remove several listeners at once, like jQuery namespaces
    const controller = new AbortController();
    el.addEventListener('click', onClick, { signal: controller.signal });
    el.addEventListener('keydown', onKeydown, { signal: controller.signal });
    controller.abort();
    
  • 5.3 Trigger

    // jQuery
    $(el).trigger('custom-event', {key1: 'data'});
    
    // Native. jQuery events bubble, native ones don't unless `bubbles: true`.
    // Read the data from `event.detail` in the handler.
    const event = new CustomEvent('custom-event', {
      bubbles: true,
      cancelable: true,
      detail: { key1: 'data' },
    });
    
    el.dispatchEvent(event);
    

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Utilities

Most of jQuery utilities are also found in the native API. Other advanced functions could be chosen from better utilities libraries, focusing on consistency and performance. Lodash and es-toolkit are recommended replacements.

  • 6.1 Basic utilities

    • isArray

    Determine whether the argument is an array.

    // jQuery
    $.isArray(array);
    
    // Native
    Array.isArray(array);
    
    • isWindow

    Determine whether the argument is a window.

    // jQuery
    $.isWindow(obj);
    
    // Native
    function isWindow(obj) {
      return obj != null && obj === obj.window;
    }
    
    • inArray

    Search for a specified value within an array and return its index (or -1 if not found).

    // jQuery
    $.inArray(item, array);
    
    // Native
    array.indexOf(item);
    

    Test if a specified value is found within an array.

    // jQuery
    $.inArray(item, array) > -1;
    
    // Native
    array.indexOf(item) > -1;
    
    // ES6-way
    array.includes(item);
    
    • isNumeric

    Determine if the argument passed is numerical. Use typeof to decide the type or the type example for better accuracy.

    // jQuery
    $.isNumeric(item);
    
    // Native
    function isNumeric(n) {
      return !isNaN(parseFloat(n)) && isFinite(n);
    }
    
    • isFunction

    Determine if the argument passed is a JavaScript function object.

    // jQuery
    $.isFunction(item);
    
    // Native
    function isFunction(item) {
      if (typeof item === 'function') {
        return true;
      }
      var type = Object.prototype.toString.call(item);
      return type === '[object Function]' || type === '[object GeneratorFunction]';
    }
    
    • isEmptyObject

    Check to see if an object is empty (contains no enumerable properties).

    // jQuery
    $.isEmptyObject(obj);
    
    // Native
    function isEmptyObject(obj) {
      return Object.keys(obj).length === 0;
    }
    
    • isPlainObject

    Check to see if an object is a plain object (created using “{}” or “new Object”).

    // jQuery
    $.isPlainObject(obj);
    
    // Native
    function isPlainObject(obj) {
      if (Object.prototype.toString.call(obj) !== '[object Object]') {
        return false;
      }
    
      const proto = Object.getPrototypeOf(obj);
      return proto === null || proto === Object.prototype;
    }
    
    • extend

    Merge the contents of two or more objects together into a new object, without modifying either argument. Like $.extend without deep, Object.assign and spread only make a shallow copy.

    // jQuery
    $.extend({}, object1, object2);
    
    // Native
    Object.assign({}, object1, object2);
    
    // Native (spread)
    ({ ...object1, ...object2 });
    

    Deep copy a single object:

    // jQuery
    $.extend(true, {}, object);
    
    // Native. Functions and DOM nodes cannot be cloned
    structuredClone(object);
    
    • trim

    Remove the white-space from the beginning and end of a string.

    // jQuery
    $.trim(string);
    
    // Native
    string.trim();
    
    • map

    Translate all items in an array or object to new array of items.

    // jQuery
    $.map(array, (value, index) => {
    });
    
    // Native
    array.map((value, index) => {
    });
    
    • each

    A generic iterator function, which can be used to seamlessly iterate over both objects and arrays.

    // jQuery (return `false` to break)
    $.each(array, (index, value) => {
    });
    
    // Native (use `for...of` or `some` if you need to break early)
    array.forEach((value, index) => {
    });
    
    // Native, for objects
    Object.entries(obj).forEach(([key, value]) => {
    });
    
    • grep

    Finds the elements of an array which satisfy a filter function.

    // jQuery
    $.grep(array, (value, index) => {
    });
    
    // Native
    array.filter((value, index) => {
    });
    
    • type

    Determine the internal JavaScript [Class] of an object.

    // jQuery
    $.type(obj);
    
    // Native
    function type(item) {
      const reTypeOf = /(?:^\[object\s(.*?)\]$)/;
      return Object.prototype.toString.call(item)
        .replace(reTypeOf, '\$1')
        .toLowerCase();
    }
    
    • merge

    Merge the contents of two arrays together into the first array.

    // jQuery, modifies array1, doesn't remove duplicate items
    $.merge(array1, array2);
    
    // Native, modifies array1, doesn't remove duplicate items
    array1.push(...array2);
    
    // Native, returns a new array, doesn't remove duplicate items
    function merge(...args) {
      return [].concat(...args);
    }
    
    // Set version, returns a new array, does remove duplicate items
    function merge(...args) {
      return Array.from(new Set([].concat(...args)));
    }
    
    • now

    Return a number representing the current time.

    // jQuery
    $.now();
    
    // Native
    Date.now();
    
    • proxy

    Takes a function and returns a new one that will always have a particular context.

    // jQuery
    $.proxy(fn, context);
    
    // Native
    fn.bind(context);
    

    + makeArray

    Convert an array-like object into a true JavaScript array.

    // jQuery
    $.makeArray(arrayLike);
    
    // Native
    Array.from(arrayLike);
    
    // ES6-way: spread operator
    [...arrayLike];
    
  • 6.2 Contains

    Check to see if a DOM element is a descendant of another DOM element.

    // jQuery
    $.contains(el, child);
    
    // Native
    el !== child && el.contains(child);
    
  • 6.3 globalEval

    Execute some JavaScript code globally.

    // jQuery
    $.globalEval(code);
    
    // Native
    function globalEval(code) {
      const script = document.createElement('script');
      script.text = code;
    
      document.head.appendChild(script).parentNode.removeChild(script);
    }
    
    // Use eval, but context of eval is current, context of $.globalEval is global.
    eval(code);
    
  • 6.4 parse

    • parseHTML

    Parses a string into an array of DOM nodes.

    // jQuery
    $.parseHTML(htmlString);
    
    // Native
    function parseHTML(string) {
      const context = document.implementation.createHTMLDocument();
    
      // Set the base href for the created document so any parsed elements with URLs
      // are based on the document's URL
      const base = context.createElement('base');
      base.href = document.location.href;
      context.head.appendChild(base);
    
      context.body.innerHTML = string;
      return Array.from(context.body.childNodes);
    }
    
  • 6.5 exists

    Check if an element exists in the DOM

    // jQuery
    if ($('selector').length) {
      // exists
    }
    
    // Native
    if (document.querySelector('selector')) {
      // exists
    }
    

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Promises

A promise represents the eventual result of an asynchronous operation. jQuery has its own way to handle promises. Native JavaScript implements a thin and minimal API to handle promises according to the Promises/A+ specification, and async/await makes them read like synchronous code.

  • 7.1 done, fail, always

    done is called when promise is resolved, fail is called when promise is rejected, always is called when promise is either resolved or rejected.

    // jQuery
    $promise.done(doneCallback).fail(failCallback).always(alwaysCallback)
    
    // Native
    promise.then(doneCallback, failCallback).finally(alwaysCallback);
    
    // Native (async/await)
    try {
      doneCallback(await promise);
    } catch (error) {
      failCallback(error);
    } finally {
      alwaysCallback();
    }
    
  • 7.2 when

    when is used to handle multiple promises. It will resolve when all promises are resolved, and reject if either one is rejected.

    // jQuery
    $.when($promise1, $promise2).done((promise1Result, promise2Result) => {
    });
    
    // Native
    Promise.all([promise1, promise2]).then(([promise1Result, promise2Result]) => {});
    
    // Native (async/await)
    const [promise1Result, promise2Result] = await Promise.all([promise1, promise2]);
    
  • 7.3 Deferred

    Deferred is a way to create promises.

    // jQuery
    function asyncFunc() {
      const defer = new $.Deferred();
      setTimeout(() => {
        if(true) {
          defer.resolve('some_value_computed_asynchronously');
        } else {
          defer.reject('failed');
        }
      }, 1000);
    
      return defer.promise();
    }
    
    // Native
    function asyncFunc() {
      return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
        setTimeout(() => {
          if (true) {
            resolve('some_value_computed_asynchronously');
          } else {
            reject('failed');
          }
        }, 1000);
      });
    }
    
    // Deferred way
    function asyncFunc() {
      const { promise, resolve, reject } = Promise.withResolvers();
      setTimeout(() => {
        if (true) {
          resolve('some_value_computed_asynchronously');
        } else {
          reject('failed');
        }
      }, 1000);
    
      return promise;
    }
    

⬆ back to top

Animation

The Web Animations API (el.animate()) is the closest native match to jQuery effects: it takes a duration in milliseconds, runs off the main thread where possible, and returns an Animation whose finished promise resolves when it ends.

  • 8.1 Show & Hide

    // jQuery
    $el.show();
    $el.hide();
    
    // Native
    el.style.display = ''; // or 'block', 'inline', ... if a stylesheet hides it
    el.style.display = 'none';
    
    // Native (if the element is not styled with `display` elsewhere)
    el.hidden = false;
    el.hidden = true;
    
  • 8.2 Toggle

    Display or hide the element.

    // jQuery
    $el.toggle();
    
    // Native
    if (getComputedStyle(el).display === 'none') {
      el.style.display = ''; // or 'block', 'inline', ...
    } else {
      el.style.display = 'none';
    }
    
  • 8.3 FadeIn & FadeOut

    // jQuery
    $el.fadeIn(3000);
    $el.fadeOut(3000);
    
    // Native fadeIn
    function fadeIn(el, ms = 400) {
      el.style.display = '';
      return el.animate([{ opacity: 0 }, { opacity: 1 }], ms).finished;
    }
    
    // Native fadeOut
    function fadeOut(el, ms = 400) {
      return el.animate([{ opacity: 1 }, { opacity: 0 }], ms).finished.then(() => {
        el.style.display = 'none';
      });
    }
    
  • 8.4 FadeTo

    Adjust the opacity of the element.

    // jQuery
    $el.fadeTo('slow',0.15);
    // Native ('slow' equals 600 milliseconds in jQuery)
    el.animate([{ opacity: 0.15 }], { duration: 600, fill: 'forwards' });
    
  • 8.5 FadeToggle

    Display or hide the element by animating their opacity.

    // jQuery
    $el.fadeToggle();
    
    // Native, using fadeIn and fadeOut from 8.3
    if (getComputedStyle(el).display === 'none') {
      fadeIn(el);
    } else {
      fadeOut(el);
    }
    
  • 8.6 SlideUp & SlideDown

    // jQuery
    $el.slideUp();
    $el.slideDown();
    
    // Native slideUp
    function slideUp(el, ms = 400) {
      el.style.overflow = 'hidden';
      return el.animate([{ height: `${el.offsetHeight}px` }, { height: '0px' }], ms).finished.then(() => {
        el.style.display = 'none';
        el.style.overflow = '';
      });
    }
    
    // Native slideDown
    function slideDown(el, ms = 400) {
      el.style.display = '';
      el.style.overflow = 'hidden';
      return el.animate([{ height: '0px' }, { height: `${el.scrollHeight}px` }], ms).finished.then(() => {
        el.style.overflow = '';
      });
    }
    
  • 8.7 SlideToggle

    Display or hide the element with a sliding motion.

    // jQuery
    $el.slideToggle();
    
    // Native, using slideUp and slideDown from 8.6
    if (getComputedStyle(el).display === 'none') {
      slideDown(el);
    } else {
      slideUp(el);
    }
    
  • 8.8 Animate

    Perform a custom animation of a set of CSS properties.

    // jQuery
    $el.animate({ params }, speed);
    
    // Native (speed in milliseconds)
    el.animate([params], { duration: speed, fill: 'forwards' });
    

Alternatives

  • You Might Not Need jQuery - Examples of how to do common event, element, ajax etc with plain javascript.
  • MDN Web Docs - Reference for every DOM API used here.
  • Baseline - Check which web platform features are safe to use across browsers.

Browser Support

ChromeEdgeFirefoxSafariOpera
Latest ✔Latest ✔Latest ✔Latest ✔Latest ✔

A few snippets use newer APIs: Promise.withResolvers() (2024), el.replaceChildren() (2020) and AbortSignal.timeout() (2022). Check Baseline if you support older browsers.

License

MIT