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A jQuery plugin is simply a new method that we use to extend
jQuery's prototype object. By extending the prototype object you enable
all jQuery objects to inherit any methods that you add. As established,
whenever you call jQuery()
you're creating a new jQuery
object, with all of jQuery's methods inherited.
The idea of a plugin is to do something with a collection of
elements. You could consider each method that comes with the jQuery core a
plugin, like fadeOut
or addClass
.
You can make your own plugins and use them privately in your code or you can release them into the wild. There are thousands of jQuery plugins available online. The barrier to creating a plugin of your own is so low that you'll want to do it straight away!
Copyright Rebecca Murphey, released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States license.