Part 2. jQuery UI

In the first part of this book, focusing on the jQuery core library, we made a big deal about how easy it is to extend jQuery. And we were correct to do so, because the ease with which jQuery can be extended is a big deal. And nowhere is it more evident than in the official plugins, the score of available unofficial plugins, and the companion library: jQuery UI.

jQuery UI builds upon the foundation laid by the capabilities of the core library to give us high-level user interface constructs, focused on creating great and intuitive UIs.

We’ll start by learning how the library can be obtained and configured—it’s not quite as simple as just copying a single file, as we were able to do with the core library. Then we’ll take a look at some of the basic capabilities that jQuery UI adds to the features of the core library.

From there we’ll see how jQuery UI layers upon the core library, and we’ll look at the extended capabilities that it adds, all of which brings us user interface interactions such as the ability to drag and drop, sort, and resize elements. And then, layering further upon that, we’ll explore the user interface widgets that jQuery UI adds to our toolbox of input controls.

After finishing this part, and hence the book, you’ll be fully prepared to take on just about any user interface project that the web might throw at you. Bring it on!