Software Alternatives & Startups

jQuery VS Underscore.js

Compare jQuery VS Underscore.js and see what are their differences

jQuery

The Write Less, Do More, JavaScript Library.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
Underscore.js

Underscore is a utility-belt library for JavaScript that provides a lot of the functional...

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, jQuery should be more popular than Underscore.js. It has been mentioned 105 times since March 2021.

social mentions
105 vs 24
Development Tools popularity
68% vs 32%
alternatives listed
240+ vs 217

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

jQuery
Underscore.js
Website jquery.com underscorejs.org
Pricing
Open source
Open source
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

jQuery 6 features
Underscore.js 5 features
  • Ease of Use
    jQuery simplifies complex JavaScript tasks by providing easy-to-use methods, which can lead to shorter development times and cleaner code.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    jQuery handles many browser inconsistencies, ensuring that your code works seamlessly across different browsers without additional effort.
  • Large Community and Ecosystem
    There is a vast community of developers who contribute plugins, extensions, and provide support, making it easier to find solutions and enhance functionality.
  • Animation and Effects
    jQuery offers built-in methods for creating animations and effects, allowing developers to enhance the user interface with minimal code.
  • AJAX Simplification
    The library provides straightforward methods for making AJAX calls, which simplifies the process of loading data asynchronously.
  • Documentation and Learning Resources
    Extensive documentation and a plethora of tutorials are available, making it easier for developers to learn and troubleshoot.

Possible disadvantages

  • Performance Overhead
    Using jQuery can add overhead to your application due to its file size and additional abstraction, which can impact performance, especially in resource-constrained environments.
  • Relevance
    With the advent of modern JavaScript frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular, and the improvements in native JavaScript (ES6+), the need for jQuery has decreased, making it less relevant in contemporary web development.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While basic usage is straightforward, mastering more advanced topics and optimizing performance can be challenging for newcomers.
  • Potential for Overuse
    Developers might rely too heavily on jQuery for tasks that can be efficiently handled by native JavaScript, leading to bloated codebases.
  • Maintenance and Legacy Code
    Projects heavily reliant on jQuery may face maintenance challenges as modern frameworks and practices evolve, requiring significant refactoring effort if transitioning away from jQuery.
  • Security
    Older jQuery versions have known security vulnerabilities, and continuing to use outdated versions can pose security risks. Regular updates are necessary to mitigate this issue.
  • Utility Functions
    Underscore.js provides a wealth of utility functions for common tasks such as map, reduce, filter, and more, making it easier to perform operations on arrays, objects, and collections.
  • Consistency
    The library offers a consistent API, which can make your code more readable and maintainable by providing a standard way to perform common programming tasks.
  • Lightweight
    Underscore.js is lightweight compared to full-featured libraries like Lodash, which can be a benefit if you're looking to minimize your application's footprint.
  • Browser Compatibility
    It supports a wide range of JavaScript environments, making it a good choice for projects that need to work across different browsers and Node.js.
  • Quick to Learn
    Easy to pick up for developers with even a basic understanding of JavaScript, due to its straightforward documentation and familiar function names.

Possible disadvantages

  • Performance
    Underscore.js may not offer the same level of performance optimizations as more modern utility libraries like Lodash, potentially leading to slower execution for some tasks.
  • Limited Functionality
    While it covers many basic utility functions, its feature set is not as extensive as Lodash or other similar libraries, which provide a broader range of capabilities.
  • Outdated
    With the advent of ECMAScript 5 and later versions, many of the functions provided by Underscore.js are now natively available in JavaScript, reducing its necessity.
  • No Modularization
    Underscore does not support modular builds in the same way Lodash does, meaning you might end up including the entire library even if you only need a few functions.
  • Community and Maintenance
    While still maintained, Underscore.js has seen less active development and contributions compared to newer libraries, which could impact its long-term viability and support.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

jQuery
Underscore.js

Overall verdict

  • jQuery is good for simplifying and speeding up certain JavaScript tasks, particularly in projects that need to support older browsers or if you are maintaining legacy code. However, for modern web development, many of its features are now part of the JavaScript standard, diminishing its necessity.

Why this product is good

  • jQuery has been popular due to its simplicity and ease of use, providing an easier way to work with HTML document traversal, event handling, and animations. It abstracts browser differences and offers a concise API for common JavaScript operations.

Recommended for

  • Developers maintaining or updating legacy projects that already use jQuery.
  • Projects that require compatibility with older browsers not supported by modern JavaScript features.
  • Beginners learning JavaScript concepts as an additional tool to practice DOM manipulation and event handling.

Overall verdict

  • Underscore.js is a reasonable choice if you need a lightweight library for concise, functional programming helpers. While newer libraries or vanilla JavaScript have made some of its functions less essential, Underscore.js remains useful for its simplicity and comprehensive utility set.

Why this product is good

  • Underscore.js is a popular JavaScript library that provides a comprehensive set of utility functions for common programming tasks. It is valued for its simplicity and ease of integration, especially in projects that require functional programming patterns but do not need the full capabilities of larger libraries like Lodash. Underscore.js is lightweight and can significantly enhance productivity by offering functions for tasks such as object manipulation, array operations, and function binding, making code more readable and maintainable.

Recommended for

    Developers working on smaller projects or legacy codebases that require a reliable utility library with functional programming techniques. It’s also suitable for those who prefer a minimalistic approach and don’t require the extensive features of heavier alternatives.

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

jQuery 5 videos + Add
Underscore.js 1 video + Add

Quick jQuery Review

More videos

  • - jQuery vs Vue, React and Angular
  • - Front-End Development, HTML & CSS, Javascript & jQuery by Jon Duckett | Book Review
  • - The Legend of jQuery in 100 Seconds
  • - ⭕The one book I regret not having as a beginning web developer || Jon Duckett JavaScript & jQuery

Introduction to Underscore.JS

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
jQuery
Underscore.js
68% 68%
32% 32%
66% 66%
34% 34%
61% 61%
39% 39%
100% 100%
UI
0% 0%

User comments

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Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

jQuery no reviews yet
Underscore.js no reviews yet
  • Top 20 Javascript Libraries
    hackr.io · Mar 2022

    jQuery dramatically simplifies JS programming and is easy to learn and use. It is highly extensible and makes web pages load faster. jQuery wraps up a lot of standard functions making the job of the developer easy. A...

  • Top 15 jQuery Alternatives To Know
    www.spec-india.com · Oct 2021

    The world is full of newer technologies and there are alternatives available for all of them. jQuery is no different. The above-mentioned technologies can be a good alternative to jQuery though jQuery itself has a...

  • Best Javascript libraries to use in 2021
    codersera.com · Feb 2021

    jQuery has been in the development scene for a long time and has been the unprecedented king for webpage dev. It is one of the most common libraries used throughout the world, with more than 50% of websites using...

We have no reviews of Underscore.js yet. Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

jQuery 105 mentions
Underscore.js 24 mentions
  • History of JavaScript: Browser wars, ECMAScript, Node.js, TypeScript, and React
    John Resig created jQuery at BarCamp NYC in January 2006. Its key sources of inspiration included Dean Edwards' CSSQuery library and other community projects from that time. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • How to Detect cdnjs on Any Website (API Guide)
    $ curl -s "https://detectzestack.p.rapidapi.com/analyze?url=example.com" \ -H "X-RapidAPI-Key: YOUR_KEY" \ -H "X-RapidAPI-Host: detectzestack.p.rapidapi.com" { "url": "https://example.com", "domain": "example.com", "technologies":... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • The Ultimate Guide to AJAX
    jQuery simplified AJAX syntax dramatically, which is why it became so popular. If you're working with a project that already uses jQuery (like many WordPress themes and plugins), its AJAX methods are very convenient. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago

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  • JavaScript Awesome Package
    Underscore - JavaScript library that provides a whole mess of useful functional programming. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • JavaScript evolution: From Lodash and Underscore to vanilla
    Underscore was created by Jeremy Ashkenas (the creator of Backbone.js) in 2009 to provide a set of utility functions that JavaScript lacked at the time. It was also created to work with Backbone.js, but it slowly became a favorite among... - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • KlongPy: High-Performance Array Programming in Python
    There was a step-change improvement for me when I tried expressing some JS patterns via `underscore.js` instead of procedurally: eg: http://underscorejs.org/#each Thinking of something as `each | map | filter | sum` is waaay less buggy... - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago

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Alternatives to jQuery and Underscore.js

When comparing jQuery and Underscore.js, you can also consider the following products.