jquery-min version?

Question

I noticed that there is always a "min" version (stands for mini?) for most JavaScript libraries (e.g., jQuery).

What is the difference? Less functionality but smaller size?

Is this something someone should consider using? (There are a lot of min versions out there.)

Answer 1

This is a version of jQuery that has a smaller file size (minified). Same functions, just a smaller file that the browser has to download.

Answer 2

Minified versions just have whitespace removed, to make them faster to download. Otherwise, they are identical.