The jQuery website currently provides a long list of available plug-ins at http://jquery.com/Plugins, and plans are in the works to add features such as user ratings and comments to help visitors determine which are the most popular ones.
In this chapter we will explore three official plug-ins—so designated because of their mature code-base, usefulness, and adherence to a set of coding and documentation standards set by the jQuery project.
The Dimensions plug-in, co-authored by Paul Bakaus and Brandon Aaron, helps to bridge the gap between the CSS box model and developers’ need to accurately measure the height and width of elements in a document. It also measures with pixel accuracy the top and left offsets of elements, no matter where they are found on the page.