JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<script src="http://ajax.aspnetcdn.com/ajax/jquery.validate/1.11.0/jquery.validate.min.js"></script>
<script src="http://ajax.aspnetcdn.com/ajax/jquery.validate/1.11.0/additional-methods.js"></script>
<form id="myform">
    <input type="text" name="field1" />
    <br/>
    <input type="text" name="field2" />
    <br/>
    <input type="submit" />
</form>
<br/>
<br/>
<a href="#" id="check">check the data</a>

<a id="docs" href="http://docs.jquery.com/Plugins/Validation"
target="_blank">Validation Documentation</a>

CSS

#docs {
    display: block;
    position: fixed;
    bottom: 0;
    right: 0;
}

JavaScript

$(document).ready(function () {

    $('#myform').validate({ // initialize the plugin
        rules: {
            field1: {
                required: true,
                minlength: 5
            },
            field2: {
                required: true,
                minlength: 5
            }
        },
        submitHandler: function (form) {
            alert('form is valid');
            return false; // nothing submitted
        }
    });

    // triggers validation without submit
    $('#check').on('click', function () {
        if ($('#myform').valid()) {
            alert('form is valid');
        }
    });

});