Karl Swedberg, of Fusionary Media, talked about the advantages of using JQuery and other JavaScript libraries in your Designs.
Karl recommends JavaScript as a prototyping tool, to get a start on a design and then passing it along to the developers. One of the big advantages of using JavaScript is that it keeps your HTML squeaky clean. It can add design enhancements without cluttering up the base HTML. JavaScript can interact with the Server without a page refresh and therefore allows valuable user feedback without slowing down the experience.
Karl recommended using JavaScript Libraries as they enable you to mock something up quickly and allow easy cross-browser solutions. Plus, you can leverage what you already know about HTML & CSS. And the interesting tid-bit I learned: With a JavaScript LIbrary you get better CSS support than with plain CSS. In short, JavaScript Libraries encourage Progressive Enhancements. Karl mentioned the 5 big players out there: Prototype, Dojo Toolkit, Mootools, YUI Yahoo! User Interface and jQuery.
