Sometimes when working with Drupal’s exposed forms, you might get stuck with a field type that you don’t want. Often times you can find a module to help improve the style or functionality of these forms. However, in some cases using a module will not be available and you will have to make modifications directly to the code.
If you are just getting started with Drupal, and come from a JavaScript background, this will clearly be the easiest method for you. If you are familiar with PHP and want to better understand Drupal, I encourage you to try a preprocess function!