What is jQuery?
jQuery is a fast, small, and feature-rich JavaScript library.
It simplifies things like HTML document traversal and manipulation, event handling, and animation with an easy-to-use API that works across browsers.
How can you detect if a website uses jQuery?
Detecting whether a website uses jQuery can be done by checking for specific signs and code patterns in the page source. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it:
- Open the Page Source: Right-click on the webpage and select “View Page Source” or press
Ctrl+U
(Windows) orCmd+Option+U
(Mac) to open the page’s source code. - Search for jQuery Initialization: Use
Ctrl+F
(Windows) orCmd+F
(Mac) to open the search function and look for the following keywords:jQuery
: Look for instances where jQuery is called. For example:jQuery(document).ready(function() { ... });
$(document).ready
: This is a common pattern for initializing jQuery scripts. For example:$(document).ready(function() { ... });
- Look for jQuery Script Tags: Search for the jQuery library being included in the source code. Look for tags like:
<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.x.x.min.js"></script>
<script src="//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.x.x/jquery.min.js"></script>
- Check for jQuery Version Comments: Sometimes developers add comments indicating the version of jQuery being used. For example, you might find a comment: .
- Examine the JavaScript Function Calls: Look for JavaScript functions that are specific to jQuery, like
.ajax()
,.fadeIn()
,.slideUp()
, and.animate()
. - Inspect the Browser Console: Open the browser’s developer tools (usually by pressing
F12
or right-clicking and selecting “Inspect”). Go to the “Console” tab and typejQuery
or$.fn
, and then pressEnter
. If jQuery is defined, it will return the jQuery function or object; otherwise, you’ll see an error. - Look for jQuery Plugins or Extensions: Check if any plugin scripts are included that are known to rely on jQuery, such as
jquery-ui.js
or other jQuery plugins.
Check out our full guide on how to find the jQuery version number on any website.