jQuery UI VS NativeScript

Compare jQuery UI VS NativeScript and see what are their differences

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jQuery UI

Curated set of user interface interactions, effects, widgets, and themes built on top of the jQuery JavaScript Library

NativeScript

Build truly native apps with JavaScript

Landing page //
2021-10-17

Landing page //
2023-10-21

jQuery UI

Website: jqueryui.com
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NativeScript

Website: nativescript.org
$ Details

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jQuery UI features and specs

Ease of Use
jQuery UI simplifies creating and managing complex UI components with straightforward syntax and comprehensive documentation.
Compatibility
jQuery UI is highly compatible with older browsers, offering a broader range of support compared to more modern frameworks.
Extensibility
jQuery UI is designed to be modular and extendable, allowing developers to use only the components they need and easily extend or theming them.
Rich Set of Widgets
It comes with a variety of pre-built widgets such as datepickers, accordions, and sliders, which can save development time.
Animated Effects
jQuery UI includes many built-in animation effects that can enhance the user experience without requiring additional libraries.
Theming
The library provides Themeroller, a tool that allows developers to create custom themes easily, ensuring UI consistency and branding.

Possible disadvantages of jQuery UI

Performance
Due to its extensive feature set, jQuery UI can be relatively heavy, which may affect performance, particularly in resource-constrained environments.
Not Mobile-First
jQuery UI is not designed with mobile-first principles in mind, making it less optimal for modern responsive web applications.
Learning Curve
While easy to use for simple tasks, mastering jQuery UI for more complex applications may require a significant learning curve.
Dependency on jQuery
Since jQuery UI relies on the jQuery library, it adds an additional dependency which can be limiting if you prefer or are required to use vanilla JS or another library.
Declining Popularity
With the rise of modern frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular, jQuery UI has seen a decline in popularity and community support.
Limited Modern Features
Compared to contemporary UI libraries, jQuery UI lacks some of the modern features and performance optimizations found in newer libraries.

NativeScript features and specs

Cross-Platform Development
NativeScript allows developers to write code once and deploy it across multiple platforms, including iOS and Android, which saves time and resources.
Native Performance
Since NativeScript directly uses native components, it delivers high performance comparable to native applications, unlike some other cross-platform solutions.
Rich Ecosystem
NativeScript offers a rich ecosystem of plugins and modules, making it easy to extend functionalities and integrate with various services.
Single Codebase
Maintaining a single codebase for both iOS and Android reduces development and debugging efforts.
Open Source
Being open source, NativeScript has strong community support and continuous improvements driven by developers around the world.
Access to Native APIs
NativeScript allows direct access to native APIs, giving developers more flexibility and control over platform-specific features.

Possible disadvantages of NativeScript

Steep Learning Curve
The framework requires an understanding of native development concepts, which can be complex for new developers or those not familiar with mobile development.
Lack of Third-Party Components
Compared to more mature frameworks, NativeScript has a limited number of third-party libraries and UI components available.
Performance Overhead
Despite high performance, there is still some overhead compared to fully native applications due to the abstraction layer.
Limited Community Support
Although the community is growing, it is still smaller compared to mainstream frameworks like React Native or Flutter, which might result in slower issue resolution and fewer resources.
Maintenance and Updates
Keeping the framework and its plugins up to date with the latest iOS and Android releases can be challenging and resource-intensive.

Analysis of jQuery UI

Overall verdict

jQuery UI is a solid choice for projects that already use jQuery or for developers who need to implement standard UI components quickly and easily. However, for projects starting from scratch, considering more modern alternatives that align with the current state of JavaScript development, such as React, Vue, or Angular, might be beneficial due to their extensive ecosystems and support for modern development patterns.

Why this product is good

jQuery UI is a popular library that extends the capabilities of jQuery with a robust set of user interface interactions, effects, widgets, and themes. It is particularly well-suited for developers who are already familiar with jQuery and need to implement features quickly without starting from scratch. Its components are widely used because they are both customizable and reliable, and it is backed by a large community that offers support and contributions. Furthermore, jQuery UI simplifies complex interactions and effects that would otherwise require significant effort to code manually, especially for those who seek cross-browser compatibility.

Recommended for

jQuery UI is recommended for developers working on legacy projects that heavily rely on jQuery, or for quick, short-to-medium-term projects where ease of use and speed of implementation are paramount. It is also suitable for educational purposes, helping beginners understand DOM manipulation and UI interaction concepts. However, for new projects aimed at creating highly interactive and scalable applications, a framework or library that supports modern front-end technologies may be more appropriate.

Analysis of NativeScript

Overall verdict

NativeScript is considered a good choice for developers seeking to create cross-platform mobile applications with a native look and feel while using web technologies they are already familiar with. It balances the flexibility of web development with the performance and capability of native apps.

Why this product is good

NativeScript is a popular open-source framework for building native mobile applications using JavaScript, TypeScript, Angular, Vue.js, or Svelte. It allows developers to write and maintain a single codebase for both iOS and Android, which can significantly reduce development time and effort. NativeScript provides access to native APIs, ensuring that apps can leverage device capabilities to deliver a truly native user experience. Additionally, the community and plugin ecosystem offer resources and tools to enhance app functionality and streamline development processes.

Recommended for

Web developers looking to leverage their existing skills to build mobile apps.
Teams that need to maintain a single codebase for multiple platforms.
Projects that require deep integration with native device features.
Developers familiar with frameworks like Angular, Vue.js, or Svelte who want to build mobile applications.

jQuery UI videos

+ Add

jQuery UI tutorial: Adding a user interface with jQuery UI | lynda.com

NativeScript videos

+ Add

NativeScript VS React Native 2019 | performance | community | plugins

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to jQuery UI and NativeScript)

jQuery UI

NativeScript

Javascript UI Libraries

79 79%

Javascript UI Libraries

21% 21

Development Tools

68 68%

Development Tools

32% 32

JavaScript Framework

0 0%

JavaScript Framework

100% 100

Libraries And Widgets

100 100%

Libraries And Widgets

0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare jQuery UI and NativeScript

jQuery UI Reviews

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NativeScript Reviews

Top 10 Flutter Alternatives for Cross-Platform App Development

With the framework, developers get the option to craft a completely native experience even without interfering with the user interface. Those who are familiar with JavaScript can leverage NativeScript to its fullest.

Source: www.moontechnolabs.com

Top 5 Flutter Alternatives for Cross-Platform Development

NativeScript is a powerful framework that empowers developers to build Web, iOS, Android, and Vision Pro apps on a single codebase. If you’re comfortable with web development, especially Angular or VueJS, you’ll find NativeScript accessible.

Source: www.miquido.com

10 Best Open Source Firebase Alternatives

The native apps you develop use the richness of the mobile platform and offer the performance you need for mobile devices. NativeScript uses native APIs and controls to render, allowing you to create more sophisticated apps compared to using a hybrid approach.

Source: rigorousthemes.com

10 Best Tools to Develop Cross-Platform Desktop Apps

NativeScript doesn’t require Angular or Vue.js but works better when used together for cross-platform app development. This runtime framework implements JavaScript, its superset TypeScript and Angular Native, and can render a variety of apps, be they gaming, streaming, geolocation, or chat apps. The user interface is in XML and CSS. A single, reusable codebase can be applied...

Source: www.westagilelabs.com

Top JavaScript Frameworks For Mobile App Development

NativeScript is an open-source, cross-platform, free mobile framework that assists in the creation of a truly native Android and iOS mobile apps. These apps can be built with JavaScript, Angular, Vue.js or TypeScript. Programming using NativeScript reduces the development time and lines of code, to a large extent. Many organizations globally have been implementing it because...

Source: medium.com

Social recommendations and mentions

NativeScript might be a bit more popular than jQuery UI. We know about 21 links to it since March 2021 and only 15 links to jQuery UI. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

jQuery UI mentions (15)

Let Me Talk About Component-based Front-end Development
The once popular jQuery, with its strengths fully utilized in jQuery UI and Bootstrap, provides many UI components and is also friendly to backend developers, seemingly meeting the requirements. However, looking at their component implementation and resource loading forms—. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
100+ Must-Have Web Development Resources
jQuery UI: An open-source library for building user interfaces based on jQuery. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
What is a component library and should you build your own?
Fortunately, when I started web development in earnest, many of these issues were ironed out. By this point, there were still a handful of libraries that made writing complex interfaces with cross-browser support a little easier. Jquery UI, the first component library I used, supported accordions and other widgets. But the browser is constantly evolving, and we now have a native way of implementing this accordion... - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
Best ReactJS library for Drag-n-Drop Table for plugin Admin view?
Because WordPress is already have these jQuery & jQuery UI libraries (https://jqueryui.com/). Source: about 3 years ago
jQuery 3.6.2 Released
We still use jQuery + jQuery UI on our website because it is basically battle tested through 15+ years. https://jqueryui.com/ It is easy as hell. What's there to not like? I don't care to be called names or being old fashioned. I also don't care about "right" tooling for frontend. As far it works and it is robust and it is going to be around for many years, I am fine with it. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago

NativeScript mentions (21)

Top 10 Frameworks for Hybrid Mobile Apps in 2026
NativeScript is a hybrid mobile app framework that allows developers to build truly native iOS and Android apps using JavaScript, TypeScript, or Angular. Unlike frameworks that rely on WebViews, NativeScript provides direct access to native APIs, ensuring apps perform like native applications. It is ideal for developers who want the convenience of JavaScript while leveraging full native functionality. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
What are JavaScript Engines?
NativeScript is a good example of a runtime built specifically for cross-platform native mobile application development built using JavaScript. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
Gio UI – Cross-Platform GUI for Go
A long time ago, nativescript[1] seemed to be a strong alternative to reactnative. Is that still the case? [1] https://nativescript.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
Ask HN: Flutter or React Native?
I'm curious about this topic as well. I would also add NativeScript[1] in the comparison. [1] https://nativescript.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
Svelte Native: The Svelte Mobile Development Experience
This is not so much the Svelte equivalent of React Native as it is just NativeScript (https://nativescript.org). - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago