jQuery UI 1.8 is Awesome

jQuery, a JavaScript framework, is a great and powerful tool for website designers and developers. And now a new and free library called jQuery UI has been introduced which is built on top on the jQuery framework. The latest version released for this library is UI 1.8 and             allows the developer to create advanced animation effects, themeable widgets and also provides abstraction for low level user interaction.

There are various components that make up the jQuery UI library and it is important to understand the functionality of each which will help you use this framework better. The first component is the core which is an absolute necessity for all kinds of interactions and to create interesting widgets. The widget is the next component which can be considered as the factory where all widgets are created. Another key component is the mouse which is required for all kinds of widgets that require heavy interaction using the mouse. The last is position, a component or rather a utility plug-in which is necessary for positioning the various elements of the page.

The components of jQuery UI 1.8 that is required for user-website interaction include widgets, effects and interactions. Widgets include various UI controls and are completely themeable with multiple options. Effects provide the user with a rich API effect while interactions are necessary to create sortable and draggable components. This new version of jQuery UI can easily be downloaded by visiting the website ‘http://jqueryui.com/download.’ Once downloaded, you can save it to the preferred location for further use.

The new UI 1.8 version includes extra features like two new widgets and utilities along with a modular core and an upgraded version of the widget core. Autocomplete widget is one such addition which allows the user to add suggestions and comments to the item being searched by popping up a menu every time there is a text input. The biggest advantage of using Autocomplete is that it can be customized which gives the user the benefit of working with different sources of data.

The Autocomplete widget can be configured using various options like ‘disabled,’ ‘minLength,’ and ‘source.’ The button widget is another component which is themeable and allows you to create a button from any information or element on the webpage. This is a very attractive feature and has become hugely popular among website designers who are looking for ways to add new and interesting styles to their site.

The new version of this library has also bought about some changes and updates to the core component. The UI 1.8 core is about 71% smaller than the previous versions which mean that there are smaller payloads being transferred to the customer and this helps the developer to increase the performance of the site. There are numerous bug fixes also as a part of this new release which ensures maximum security.

The jQuery UI 1.8 version library is a wonderful and powerful tool for all website developers and enables them to create fun, interesting and creative pages using the various features and components.