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With jQuery increasing in popularity choosing to use jQuery in your application is probably a smart move. However if you’re new to jQuery and more importantly new to JavaScript you need to learn the basics. jQuery makes writing plugins ridiculously easy and even easier to search for. Before you run off to the googs in search of a plugin to add numbers together, take the time to learn the very basics of JavaScript.

Following the w3schools tutorial and glancing over the reference of built in functions is going to help a lot when starting out with jQuery. With a solid foundation of JavaScript the next thing to learn is how selectors work. Armed with JavaScript and selector knowledge most problems you come across probably will not need plugins. Plugins do have their place – if your application is Form intensive, by all means use the Forms plugin – just don’t have your entire client side experience be a bunch of plugins kludged together.