| Feature |
jQuery’s $ Function |
Standard JavaScript DOM Manipulation |
| Syntax |
$(selector) |
document.querySelector() / document.getElementById() |
| Cross-Browser Compatibility |
Handles cross-browser issues automatically |
Requires manual handling for older browsers (e.g., IE8 and below) |
| Selection |
Can select elements by various criteria (ID, class, tag, etc.) using CSS selectors. |
Can select elements using document.querySelector() or getElementById(), which are similar to CSS selectors. |
| Chaining |
Supports chaining of multiple operations (e.g., .hide().fadeIn()) |
Does not support chaining directly, requires additional code for chaining operations. |
| Event Handling |
.on() method for binding events, supports delegation and multiple events in a single call. |
addEventListener() for event handling, but needs separate event listener calls for multiple events or delegation. |
| Manipulation |
Simplifies element manipulation (e.g., .css(), .html(), .val(), .addClass()). |
Requires separate methods for manipulation (e.g., element.style, element.innerHTML, element.value). |
| AJAX |
Simplified AJAX calls with .ajax(), .get(), .post() methods. |
Requires XMLHttpRequest or fetch() for AJAX, which is more verbose. |
| Performance |
Slightly slower due to the abstraction and ease of use |
Faster as it interacts directly with the DOM, without abstraction. |
| File Size |
Larger, since jQuery includes many utility functions and features. |
Smaller, as it uses only native JavaScript methods, making it more lightweight. |
| Dependency |
jQuery library must be included. |
No dependency, uses native browser features. |
