Tips in Developing jQuery Plug-ins

Plug-ins for jQuery has become increasingly important because of the development of the framework in terms of corporate support (Microsoft) and ability of the framework to accepted different plug-ins for easier development. The plug-in could also be recycled and used in other websites aside from JavaScript and Ajax based applications.

The development of plug-ins using jQuery is also surprisingly easy. You should be able to build a plug-in in to time at all. But that doesn’t mean any developer could easily build an application without thinking of its repercussions.

Here are some tips on how to effectively build a plug-in:

• Think Degradable Ajax

Inserting a plug-in is not just building the plug-in for the sake of JavaScript or Ajax. The plug-in should stay working even though the user opts not to have JavaScript in their browser. Try the plug-in without JavaScript. You should also give it more tests not only with or without JavaScript but also with different browsers.

Degradable Ajax is still important because you still need to ensure your users will have a good access to your website. A plug-in will always a have a function in a website and without it, the website will never work.

• Firebug is a Great Tool

Developing a plug-in is very easy but you need to make sure they will work as expected. Although they only provide simple functions, you need to make sure their functions will do more good than evil. The plug-in could be used as a gateway for different attacks. Using a firebug should always be a practice for developers to prevent different attacks.

Another great tool that you can use is the console.log. This is a great tool as you can have this change or even remove the alert() function. The alert() function could be useful but it is usually annoying as this will always be part of the plug-in even though you don’t need them.

• Presentation Layer should Handle the Visual Effects

In order for plug-ins to handle non-JavaScript browsers, the visual effects of the plug in should be transferred to the presentation layer. By building the application wherein the visual effects is placed in the browser with degradable development, you should be able to maintain the functions of the application.

The plug-in should be as simple as possible so that you don’t have a very hard time updating the plug-in. Pictures and other effects on the plug-in may be very good to look at when implemented, but they could slow down the application.

• Use it as a Luxury

Plug-in could be used as a very important function in the application. But make sure you are only using the plug-in as an add-on. Although plug-ins are generally reliable, it’s still new in the industry. This is very important when you are building an application with a framework and insert the jQuery plug-in later.

Most frameworks should be able to work with the JavaScript plug-in but it could be opening up a lot of security problems that cannot be handled later. Avoid pushing yourself to develop an application with the aim of integrating plug-ins as this would jeopardize the original purpose of the application.