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Vanilla JS equivalents of jQuery methods

Sans jQuery

Events

// jQuery
$(document).ready(function() {
  // code
})

// Vanilla
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
  // code
})
// jQuery
$('a').click(function() {
  // code…
})

// Vanilla
[].forEach.call(document.querySelectorAll('a'), function(el) {
  el.addEventListener('click', function() {
    // code…
  })
})

Selectors

// jQuery
var divs = $('div')

// Vanilla
var divs = document.querySelectorAll('div')
// jQuery
var newDiv = $('<div/>')

// Vanilla
var newDiv = document.createElement('div')

Attributes

// jQuery
$('img').filter(':first').attr('alt', 'My image')

// Vanilla
document.querySelector('img').setAttribute('alt', 'My image')

Classes

// jQuery
newDiv.addClass('foo')

// Vanilla
newDiv.classList.add('foo')
// jQuery
newDiv.toggleClass('foo')

// Vanilla
newDiv.classList.toggle('foo')

Manipulation

// jQuery
$('body').append($('<p/>'))

// Vanilla
document.body.appendChild(document.createElement('p'))
// jQuery
var clonedElement = $('#about').clone()

// Vanilla
var clonedElement = document.getElementById('about').cloneNode(true)
// jQuery
$('#wrap').empty()

// Vanilla
var wrap = document.getElementById('wrap')
while(wrap.firstChild) wrap.removeChild(wrap.firstChild)

Transversing

// jQuery
var parent = $('#about').parent()

// Vanilla
var parent = document.getElementById('about').parentNode
// jQuery
if($('#wrap').is(':empty'))

// Vanilla
if(!document.getElementById('wrap').hasChildNodes())
// jQuery
var nextElement = $('#wrap').next()

// Vanilla
var nextElement = document.getElementById('wrap').nextSibling

AJAX

GET

// jQuery
$.get('//example.com', function (data) {
  // code
})

// Vanilla
var httpRequest = new XMLHttpRequest()
httpRequest.onreadystatechange = function (data) {
  // code
}
httpRequest.open('GET', url)
httpRequest.send()

POST

// jQuery
$.post('//example.com', { username: username }, function (data) {
  // code
})

// Vanilla
var httpRequest = new XMLHttpRequest()
httpRequest.onreadystatechange = function (data) {
  // code
}
httpRequest.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded')
httpRequest.open('POST', url)
httpRequest.send('username=' + encodeURIComponent(username))

JSONP

// jQuery
$.getJSON('//openexchangerates.org/latest.json?callback=?', function (data) {
  // code
})

// Vanilla
function success(data) {
  // code
}
var scr = document.createElement('script')
scr.src = '//openexchangerates.org/latest.json?callback=formatCurrency'
document.body.appendChild(scr)

More

Here are a few additional references demonstrating vanilla javascript equivalents of jquery methods:

Also, see the two part series showing equivalents for ...

@yairEO
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yairEO commented Oct 14, 2016

$('#wrap').next() is not the same at all as vanilla nextSibling, but to nextElementSibling, because obviously nextSibling returns text nodes which are irrelevant.

Regarding the example of $('img').filter(':first').attr('alt', 'My image') - nobody in their right mind will use filter like that. you would simply do:

$('img:first')
$('img').eq(0)
$('img:eq(0)')

would be nice to add vanillia of wrap() method and data() method for storing data on a cached object

@brmendez
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$('selector').load() would be nice 👍

@filipe-torres
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@yairEO ,
I found a good JQuery wrap() method in plain Javascript: [(https://plainjs.com/javascript/manipulation/wrap-an-html-structure-around-an-element-28/)]

@brmendez ,
there is an alternative for JQuery load() method: loadPageSection.js
[(https://gist.github.com/lazamar/f213d94d08a8212bb0a59a4ec2fbc964)]

@dustinpoissant
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I am rewriting one of my projects that has jQuery as a dependency to not have any dependencies. I was googling each line I needed to change until I found this. This is very useful, thank you.

@AaronKWalker
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I'm currently learning javascript and jQuery. This helps out tremendously! Thank you!

@xilin
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xilin commented Jan 19, 2018

Base on jQuery's doc

By design, any jQuery constructor or method that accepts an HTML string — jQuery(), .append(), .after(), etc. — can potentially execute code. This can occur by injection of script tags or use of HTML attributes that execute code (for example, ). Do not use these methods to insert strings obtained from untrusted sources such as URL query parameters, cookies, or form inputs. Doing so can introduce cross-site-scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities. Remove or escape any user input before adding content to the document.

These methods will execute code, while the vanilla method will not eval scripts.

@ameenaziz
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$(btn[index++]).click();
whats evq for that?

@imlinus
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imlinus commented Feb 19, 2018

document.querySelector(btn[index++]).click();

@daphnedeng
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how about eq() ? What is eq() is vanilla js?

@grestart
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what about this?

$( document ).ajaxComplete(function() {
// code here to change element, witch is loaded with ajax
});

@mc-funk
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mc-funk commented Oct 5, 2018

Thanks for the great resource!

For the following:

// jQuery
$('#wrap').empty()

// Vanilla
var wrap = document.getElementById('wrap')
while(wrap.firstChild) wrap.removeChild(wrap.firstChild)
Why not wrap.innerHTML = '' or similar?
The while loop poses a problem if you are, e.g., ensuring that data refreshes probably -- since it will clear out anything you subsequently put into the element.

@aristot
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aristot commented Oct 7, 2018

while is faster than $().empty or wrap.innerHTML = ""

@MINORITYmaN
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nobody cares about performance?
document.querySelectorAll('a') change to document.getElementsByTagName('a') why? first is browser API second i native.
you should check out this video btw.
https://youtu.be/VBfvnKDlZMw?t=597

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ghost commented Jan 4, 2019

thank you
this is very useful :)

@yogyogi
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yogyogi commented Feb 19, 2019

I think jQuery Append method is perfect for all types of DOM manipulations. @brmendez $('selector').load() method is removed few years back, now there is .load() method for doing AJAX request only.

@darrellgrant
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Thanks!

@graphical-iain
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Fetch is also widely supported now. Fully supported with a relatively lightweight pollyfill for IE. So AJAX calls are just as easy with Vanilla JS now as with jQuery. :)

@trae410
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trae410 commented Apr 30, 2019

I finally found a way to get the vanilla js equivalent of:

var item = $('form input');
var todo = {item: item.val()};

it is simple! here it is:

var item = document.querySelectorAll('input')[0];
var todo = {item: item.value)};

I was trying to use innerHTML, text etc, but is simply .value :)

@johnsfuller
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love it! Maybe add a $(el).closest() equivalent?

@Asharif88
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@jfudman

love it! Maybe add a $(el).closest() equivalent?

It's also .closest() https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Element/closest

@ColtHands
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While this may be true, the browser support for many of those methods are somewhat different. Methods like classList.add may not be supported in older browsers.

Just take a moment to see how long and tedious polyfill for classList is.

@mzaini30
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Fetch is also widely supported now. Fully supported with a relatively lightweight pollyfill for IE. So AJAX calls are just as easy with Vanilla JS now as with jQuery. :)

Yes....

@jsergiu
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jsergiu commented May 22, 2020

$('selector').load() would be nice 👍

`
// You can do something like:
< div class="include" data-file="./components/footer.html">

document.querySelectorAll('include').forEach((tag) => {
fetch(tag.dataset.file)
.then((r) => r.text())
.then((r) => $(tag).replaceWith($(r)))
})
`

@bigabdoul
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bigabdoul commented Sep 14, 2020

$('#wrap').next() is not the same at all as vanilla nextSibling, but to nextElementSibling, because obviously nextSibling returns text nodes which are irrelevant.

Regarding the example of $('img').filter(':first').attr('alt', 'My image') - nobody in their right mind will use filter like that. you would simply do:

$('img:first')
$('img').eq(0)
$('img:eq(0)')

would be nice to add vanillia of wrap() method and data() method for storing data on a cached object

An implementation of jQuery's wrap() might be as follows:

In HTML:
<input type="text" id="textInput"/>

In jQuery:
$('#textInput').wrap('<div class="wrapped-input"></div>');

In JS:

/**
 * Creates a tag element, appends the specified child element to it and
 * then appends the created tag to the child's parent element.
 * @param {HTMLElement} child The child element to be contained in a new
 * wrapper element.
 * @param {string} Optional: The name of the tag element to create.
 * @returns HTMLElement The newly created tag element wrapped around child.
 */
function wrap(child, tag) {
    if (!tag) tag = "div";
    const parent = child.parentElement;
    const elm = document.createElement("" + tag); // ensures that 'tag' is really a string
    elm.appendChild(child);
    parent.appendChild(elm);
    return elm;
}

Usage:

wrap(document.getElementById('textInput')).setAttribute('class', 'wrapped-input');

@oohkumar
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oohkumar commented Nov 19, 2020

This is why jQuery will never die. Why would any programmer want to use vanilla JS? Three times as many characters in vanilla Javascript to perform the same function as jQuery. Ridiculous. The performance difference doesn't justify the overly complicated and difficult-to-read syntax of vanilla JS.

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ghost commented Jan 2, 2021

This is why jQuery will never die. Why would any programmer want to use vanilla JS? Three times as many characters in vanilla Javascript to perform the same function as jQuery. Ridiculous. The performance difference doesn't justify the overly complicated and difficult-to-read syntax of vanilla JS.

For the same reason people sometimes prefer to use vanilla css isntead of a framework. even if you are only using 1 method of jquery, the whole library gets loaded along with the page, which makes for a really heavy page

@pthurmond
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While I'm glad for the examples to learn more vanilla js, I gotta say that every single one is far more verbose then the jQuery equivalent. Some are even excessively so. That alone makes me want to stick with jQuery. I just don't see any good reason to switch to Vanilla JS unless I am using a framework like Vue.js. I just haven't heard any truly compelling arguments.

@johnsfuller
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While I'm glad for the examples to learn more vanilla js, I gotta say that every single one is far more verbose then the jQuery equivalent. Some are even excessively so. That alone makes me want to stick with jQuery. I just don't see any good reason to switch to Vanilla JS unless I am using a framework like Vue.js. I just haven't heard any truly compelling arguments.

Benchmark your pagespeed with and without. Look on a large website for time the browser spends on scripting with jQuery vs without. Its a pretty resource-expensive library to simply query dom elements.

@happytm
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happytm commented May 7, 2022

Nice discussion. I would like to see if anyone have a pure javascript solution for following code:

Thanks.

<html> 
<head> 
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> 
<title>Select Box</title> 
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.11.2/jquery.min.js"></script>
</head> 
<body>
<h2>Select Box</h2>

<form action="">
  
<SELECT class="combine" id ="command" name = "a">
    <option></option>
    <option>SELECT</option>
    <option>Digital Write</option>
    <option>Analog Write</option>
    <option>Digital Read</option>
    <option>Analog Read</option>
    <option>Neopixel</option>
    <option>Set AP Channel</option>
    <option>Set Sleep Time</option>
    <option>Set Mode</option>
</SELECT>

<SELECT class="combine" id ="device" name = "b">
    <option></option>
    <option>Livingroom</option>
    <option>Kitchen</option>
    <option>Bedroom1</option>
    <option>Bedroom2</option>
    <option>Bathroom1</option>
    <option>Bathroom2</option>
    <option>Laundry</option>
    <option>Office</option>
    
</SELECT>

<SELECT class="combine" id ="command1" name = "c" >
    <option>00</option>
    <option>01</option>
    <option>02</option>
    <option>03</option>
    <option>04</option>
   </SELECT>

<SELECT class="combine" id ="command2" name = "d">
    <option>00</option>
    <option>01</option>
    <option>02</option>
    <option>03</option>
    <option>04</option>
    
</SELECT>

<SELECT class="combine" id ="command3" name = "e">
    <option>00</option>
    <option>01</option>
    <option>02</option>
    <option>03</option>
    <option>04</option>
    
</SELECT>

<SELECT class="combine" id ="command4" name = "f" >
    <option>00</option>
    <option>01</option>
    <option>02</option>
    <option>03</option>
    <option>04</option>
    
</SELECT>


<br>

<script>
var attachEvent = function(node, event, listener, useCapture) {
  // Method for FF, Opera, Chrome, Safari
  if ( window.addEventListener ) {
    node.addEventListener(event, listener, useCapture || false);
  }
  // IE has its own method
  else {
    node.attachEvent('on'+event, listener);
  }
};

// Once the window loads and the DOM is ready, attach the event to the main
  attachEvent(window, "load", function() {
  var select_command = document.getElementById("command");

  var selectHandler = function() {
      option1 = document.getElementById("device"),
      option2 = document.getElementById("command1");
      option3 = document.getElementById("command2");
      option4 = document.getElementById("command3");
      option5 = document.getElementById("command4");
      
     
// Show and hide the appropriate select's
     if (this.value == "Neopixel") {
     
       option1.style.display = "";
       option2.style.display = "";
       option3.style.display = "";
       option4.style.display = "";
       option5.style.display = "";
       
	   
     } else if (this.value == "Set AP Channel" || this.value == "Set Sleep Time" || this.value == "Set Mode" || this.value == "Digital Read" || this.value == "Analog Read") {
       
       option1.style.display = "";
       option2.style.display = "";
       option3.style.display = "none";
       option4.style.display = "none";
       option5.style.display = "none";
       
	   
	 } else if (this.value == "Digital Write" || this.value == "Analog Write" || this.value == "SELECT") {
       
       option1.style.display = "";
       option2.style.display = "";
       option3.style.display = "";
       option4.style.display = "none";
       option5.style.display = "none";
       
		  
  if (this.value == "SELECT") {
	 
	  option1.style.display = "none";
          option2.style.display = "none";
          option3.style.display = "none";
          option4.style.display = "none";
          option5.style.display = "none";
          
	   }
     } 
  };

  // Use the onchange and onkeypress events to detect when the 
  // value of select_command has changed
  attachEvent(select_command, "change", selectHandler);
  attachEvent(select_command, "keypress", selectHandler);
});

$(document).ready(function(){
  $("form").submit(function(){
    var sentCommand = document.getElementById('result').value;
    
});
});

$(document).ready(function(){

$('.combine').on('change', function(){

if ($('#command').val() == "Set AP Channel" || "Set Sleep Time" || "Set Mode" || "Digital Read" || "Analog Read")
  { 
  var payload = $('#command').val() + '/' + $('#device').val() + '/' + $('#command1').val(); 
  }  

if ($('#command').val() == "Digital Write")
    {
    var payload = $('#command').val() + '/' + $('#device').val() + '/' + $('#command1').val() + "/" + $('#command2').val(); 
    }

if ($('#command').val() == "Neopixel")
    {
    var payload = $('#command').val() + '/' + $('#device').val() + '/' + $('#command1').val() + "/" + $('#command2').val() + '/' + $('#command3').val()  + '/' + $('#command4').val() ; 
    }
	
$('#result').val(payload); 
   });
})
</script>

<br>
<input type="text" id="result" size = "52" name="send" value="" />
<input type="submit" value="Send Command">

</form>

</body>
</html>

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