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0705-deprecate-jquery-optional-feature.md

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stage start-date release-date release-versions teams prs project-link
recommended
2020-01-14 00:00:00 UTC
2021-03-22 00:00:00 UTC
ember-source
v3.26.0
framework
accepted

Deprecate jQuery Integration Optional Feature

Summary

Deprecate the jquery-integration optional feature flag.

Motivation

jQuery integration has been a part of Ember since the beginning. When Ember was first released, a variety of browser features had not been standardized yet, and jQuery was a necessary tool for creating code that worked in all major browsers. This is no longer the case, and Ember is no longer internally reliant on jQuery.

That said, jQuery is still a useful library with many plugins, and that many developers use. Adding jQuery to an Ember application is still completely possible, and not deprecated by this or any other RFC.

The jquery-integration optional feature is not about removing jQuery from your Ember application. It is instead about removing the integration that Ember has with jQuery, which is left over from the days when jQuery was used by Ember for many different basic tasks. Specifically, disabling the feature removes the following APIs:

  • Ember.$, which is an alias for jQuery
  • this.$, which is an alias for a jQuery selector that is scoped to this. This is available in Classic components and tests.

Deprecating the jquery-integration optional feature means that users will have to transition away from using these specific APIs, but not from using jQuery in general. This will help us to clarify that Ember is not dependent on jQuery, and allow us to simplify Ember's internals.

Transition Path

This deprecation will be a 2 phase deprecation:

  1. Deprecate the following optional feature flag settings:
  • jquery-integration: true
  1. Deprecate specifying the optional feature at all

Phase 1

The first phase will require that all users have toggled the optional feature to false. This phase can be implemented immediately, and will position us to be able to enter phase 2 in the next major version after implementation (currently v4).

Since the not specifying the optional feature will cause it to be set to the true by default in Ember v3, users will have to specify the optional feature explicitly.

Phase 2

Once a major version has been released after phase 1 has been implemented, all users will be using the same setting for this optional feature, explicitly. In the first release of Ember v4, we will be able to safely change the default value of the optional feature to false. Users will be able to drop the explicit setting at this point, and the blueprint will be updated to drop it as well.

At this point, the default setting will be false, and explicitly setting it to false will be allowed. Explicitly setting it to true will trigger an assertion. This means that users can only possibly have one behavior specified, and we can deprecate specifying the optional feature at all.

How We Teach This

We should update the Optional Features guide to discuss in more detail how users can migrate away from jQuery. In general, most usages should be fairly straightforward, and the current guides do not cover it in great detail. They also do not mention that @ember/jquery can be used without the feature flag.

Updated Optional Feature Guide

jQuery is commonly used for event handling and many popular libraries for charting and UI components. Ember was originally built using jQuery, but has since refactored and is no longer dependent on it. jQuery can still be used as in independent library alongside Ember, however.

There are a few APIs that exist in Ember still that directly expose jQuery, Disabling this optional feature disables those APIs, but does not remove jQuery itself. jQuery is provided by the @ember/jquery addon, independent of the integration APIs.

Migrating Away from and disabling Ember jQuery integration APIs

To disable this feature, first migrate away from the jQuery integration APIs. Below is a list of the jQuery specific APIs in Ember, and how to migrate away from them.

  • this.$() in Classic Ember components. This creates a jQuery selector that targets the component's element. You can migrate away by using this.element instead, which is the actual DOM element for the component. If you want to continue using jQuery via @ember/jquery, you can do so with this.element:

    import $ from 'jquery';
import Component from '@ember/copmonent';

export default class MyComponent extends Component {
  didInsertElement() {
    let el = $(this.element);

    // ...
  }
}

  • Event handlers on Classic components, such as click() and mouseEnter(). These APIs still work without the integrations enabled, but they no longer receive a jQuery event, they receive a native Event instead. You can convert to using native events incrementally by using the ember-jquery-legacy addon, which provides a function that converts a jQuery event into a native event safely. Once all of your event handlers have been converted, you can disable jQuery integration.

  • Ember.$(), which is an alias for the global jQuery. This can either be replaced with alternative, non-jquery based APIs, or by installing @ember/jquery and importing it directly.

  • Global acceptance test helpers like find() or click(). These can be replaced with the @ember/test-helpers, which is the default for test helpers now.

  • this.$() in component tests. This can be replaced with corresponding test helpers from @ember/test-helpers.

Note that if you disable these APIs, then all addons you use must also work without them, as they will not be available at all.

Next, follow the instructions above to install @ember/optional-features, and run the following command to change @ember/optional-features:

ember feature:disable jquery-integration

Including jQuery without integration APIs

If you would like to include jQuery without the Ember integration APIs, you can install @ember/jquery:

ember install @ember/jquery

This will allow you to import jQuery from jquery:

import $ from 'jquery';

Including jQuery with integration APIs

To include jQuery in your Ember app and enable the jQuery integration APIs such as this.$(), follow the instructions above to install @ember/optional-features. Next, enable the feature:

ember feature:enable jquery-integration

Then, install the @ember/jquery addon:

ember install @ember/jquery

Now, almost anywhere in your app, you can use the various jQuery integrations.

Removing jQuery completely

If you are working on an application that already has jQuery installed, and would like to remove it, follow these steps.

First, refactor your own code to not depend on jQuery. See the section above on how to do this. Keep in mind that you will have to remove jQuery usage entirely, you cannot use solutions that replace the integration API with jQuery independently such as $(this.element).

Next, follow the instructions above to install @ember/optional-features, and run the following command to change @ember/optional-features:

ember feature:disable jquery-integration

Then, remove @ember/jquery from your package.json.

This will remove jQuery from your vendor.js bundle and disable any use of jQuery in Ember itself. Now your app will be about 30KB lighter!

Deprecation Guide

Setting the jquery-integration optional feature to true has been deprecated. You must set this feature to false, disabling jQuery integration. This only disables integration with Ember, jQuery can still be included and used as an independent library via the @ember/jquery addon.

For more details on this optional feature, including the changes in behavior disabling it causes and how you can disable it, see the optional features section of the Ember guides.

Drawbacks

  • Could cause churn in some existing applications

Alternatives

  • We could continue supporting these jQuery integrations forever.