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Choosing JQuery

It is interesting to me that both Microsoft and Nokia have chosen to formally use jQuery. For starters, jQuery is awesome, so assuming the decision was made based on the quality of the library, then it is not that surprising. What's a interesting is that jQuery takes a rather functional approach as opposed to a class driven model, like Prototype for example. This seems like an important detail because up until recently, the developer world often made an effort to shield themselves from the messy aspects of web development.

Most developers Microsoft considered were those creating desktop applications. The obvious ideal then was to allow a desktop developer use he exact same model as a desktop app when creating a web application. Personally, I think this was a pretty decent idea in terms of helping an existing developer community. That said, the code it produced was terrible and it was generally a black box to many programmers. The fact that Microsoft, the biggest supporter of legacy environments, now supports jQuery suggests two things.

1. The web is important enough to warrant a web specific development environment.
2. The web requires models and practices that are different from desktop development.

I would argue that most web developers using open source technologies could look at these two points and give a rather victorious "duh". I heartily agree. That said, it is still positive that a company like Microsoft is considering the web as a distributed set of resources that they do not have control over. Previously, it seemed as though Microsoft tried to make the web the desktop, meaning they control all the cards. Accepting the quality and prominance of jQuery suggests that there is hope for Microsoft to play well with others. Whether that actually happens over the long term is very much up in the air, but this appears to be a positive step.

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