[vidarh]

Premature optimization, and all that. It is trivial to get raw dom nodes out of jQuery, so you can easily use jQuery to begin with and replace any code with the full DOM API calls should it every become a performance issue.

This discussion is a bit like how assembly programmers used to defend not moving to a high level language long after the performance benefits were not worth it any more.

[MatthewPhillips]

> This discussion is a bit like how assembly programmers used to defend not moving to a high level language long after the performance benefits were not worth it any more.

But we're not at that point in the web yet. The performance benefits are worth it. Just try out JQuery Mobile if you want to see what wasted CPU cycles can do.

[vidarh]

It may be worth it for specific use cases, just like there are certainly still specific use cases where assembly shines.

The point is we're well past the point where grasping for the asm-equivalent from the start should be the default unless you happen to specifically target one of those niches.

[MatthewPhillips]

Mobile isn't a niche.

[dasil003]

That depends on the application.

[lukeschlather]

It depends on what you're trying to do. Mostly, I try to write code that displays the same in every possible browser without special-casing or using confusing idioms. CPU cycles are cheap. A webpage that loads a little slow is a possible lost sale. A webpage that fails to load is a definite lost sale.

[tripzilch]

> It is trivial to get raw dom nodes out of jQuery, so you can easily use jQuery to begin with and replace any code with the full DOM API calls should it every become a performance issue.

That's still going to be a lot of work if the performance issues turn out to be many separate jQuery calls spread all over your code, which is not unlikely.