Learn Cycle2 for jQuery From Top to Bottom

1.2 Why Cycle2?

Now before we dive in and we learn how to use this plug in, let's have a quick look at the pros of using it, and how it might differ from other plugins out there. I think first and foremost is the file size. This is a big plus because the production version is just shy of 20 kilobytes, which is great for a jQuery plugin. And in these 20 kilobytes you get a lot of out-of-the-box functionality for captions, overlays, navigation controls and even pagers. Another big plus is the fact that this plugin is responsive, meaning that it's adapting nicely to whatever screen size you might have, and it even works well on mobile devices. And speaking of mobile devices, Cycle2 supports swipe gestures. I think this should be included in every single plugin of this type and I'm really happy that Cycle included that here. Auto height Is another cool feature that manages the slideshow's container height, very useful when the slides have different heights. The plugin is also very customizable apart from the fact that you can create skins for it and make it look any way you want. You can also set different options for different slides, something we'll get to in a future lesson. Another plus is the fact that you have access to a few different transitions like Fade, Scroll, Shuffle, Tile and Carousel. Now there are more advantages to using Cycle, but what I just told you I consider to be most important. Also Cycle works well, or works very good actually, in all browsers even the older ones. Even in older versions of IE, there is a plugin for some of the transitions that don't work well. So, it is very widely supported. Now, I did say Cycle. I know the plugin is called a cycle, too, but just for the sake of things. From now on I'm gonna refer to it as Cycle. So with that said, let's move on to the next lesson where you're going to learn about the Cycle installation and licensing.