Re:Zepto.js, a jQuery-compatible mobile JavaScript framework...
by davebalmer on Thursday October 28, 2010 @02:56PM
(#1844357)
Have to agree with John here. All the zepto promotion efforts I've seen have been playing up "jQuery-compatible", but that's pretty misleading. Seems like using the "jQuery" buzzword to get attention, but not exactly delivering the goods.
Re:Zepto.js, a jQuery-compatible mobile JavaScript framework...
by ferret1973 on Thursday October 28, 2010 @06:42PM
(#1845257)
I'm not sure why anyone would disagree. A perfectly perfectly balanced reply in context.
Zepto has been positioned as compatible with jQuery - inviting opinion on the subject.
As the comparison was one of the core selling points of the argument for Zepto, it's actually wide open for discussion.
Re:Zepto.js, a jQuery-compatible mobile JavaScript framework...
by millermedeiros on Friday October 29, 2010 @03:07PM
(#1848551)
my response to all this craziness since I forked the original project: http://blog.millermedeiros.com/2010/10/zepto-js-and-mobile-j...
(Zepto is broken across multiple files so I might be missing some functionality.)
Roughly, Zepto has this many properties/method: On $: 5, On $.fn: 32.
jQuery has: On $: 95, On $.fn: 146.
Phrases like "jQuery-compatible syntax (lots of the jQuery API supported!)" make it seem like you can just rip jQuery out of an application and drop Zepto in - and it'll just work. Zepto only supports about 15% of the jQuery API - I'm very skeptical that any major jQuery plugin would "just work" given the provided API.
Framing the marketing within the context of jQuery (or, really, even Prototype) is disingenuous and creates a deceptive message. A better way to market the code would be: "Zepto provides a simple API for making JavaScript awesome in the latest WebKit mobile browsers - all in 2KB!"
That's 100% accurate and frames the code in a way that users will be able to grasp (2KB is nothing! It'll make my code simpler when I build my next PhoneGap app!). Whereas framing it within the context of jQuery doesn't benefit Zepto - it doesn't support more than one platform and it doesn't support the full jQuery API.