It does more than just selecting an element. It also finds an inner element to do the burst from, grabs OuterWidth, and sets css.
While it is possible to do these without jQuery, you could say that about any jQ plugin.
While it is possible to do these without jQuery, you could say that about any jQ plugin.
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Simply getting the width/height of an element in JavaScript is very hairy, especially when you want a cross browser solution.
I agree this jQuery thing a little redundant, but the simple fact it's the defacto, it fixes cross compatibility issues and it's easy to write stuff in.