[geeklog-devel] JavaScript Libraries

[Blaine Lang]

I  have been using the YUI library in projects for possibly 2 years 
since it was first released and have not been disappointed. It's 
continued to grow and is actively supported. It is a very rich set of 
components and one item in the YUI class that really has interested me 
for GL and theme control are the CSS/Grid/Layout/Menu classes with their 
graded browser support.

I have also used the Walter Zorn tooltip library as it is one of the 
best lightweight JS libraries for this function.

Some of the very best UI components are from Jack Slocum who released 
the EXT library just 1 year ago and has rapidly gained incredible 
community support and recognition. We used his first version of the GRID 
control based on YUI for a large project and it worked very well.

Another developer had released an excellent Accordion menu/window 
control based on EXT but it now looks like that is being rolled into the 
EXT library. I expect Jack will have even more to show us in 2008.

I have plans to implement more AJAX functionality to the forum plugin 
and will be using the YUI class for that. I've often used ny own 
Javascript but it's far nicer to code with the YUI library.


The YUI library is setup as multiple library files and has lightweight 
versions if your not using the more advanced methods of any single 
library. Additionally, you can load versions of the compressed libraries 
from Yahoo's own servers to speed up browser load times. They have 
probably the best online documentation.


I have recently used both prototype and YUI without any issues as I 
needed a special rating UI component but I'd vote for YUI and EXT with a 
few other smaller independent libraries as needed.

Blaine


Mark R. Evans wrote:
> Happy New Year!
>
> I wanted to get everyone's opinion and thoughts on the various 
> JavaScript libraries that are available.  There are several good 
> libraries out there, MooTools, JQuery, Prototype, etc...  One thing 
> I've found is they don't always play nicely together.  Before I get 
> too carried away with implementing features in Media Gallery and 
> Chameleon, I thought it might be worthwhile to discuss future 
> directions for both Geeklog and plugins.
>
> Currently, I have one major feature in Media Gallery (Lightbox 
> slideshow) that is using MooTools.  I was playing with some JavaScript 
> tooltips for the Forum and other areas and found a nice DHTML/JS 
> tooltip package by Walter Zorn (wz_tooltip), but quickly discovered 
> that it was incompatible with MooTools (breaks the Lightbox 
> slideshow).   I decided it would probably be best if I continued to 
> use MooTools based solutions, but if Geeklog and / or other plugins 
> are planning on adopting another library, we may have some issues.
>
> Since I only have one released feature using MooTools, changing is an 
> option now.  But I would like to implement some additional features in 
> the next Media Gallery
>
>  - Accordian Menus
>  - JS/SWF based uploaded
>  - Image Zoom View
>  - Additional JS slideshows
>  - Various image display tricks
>
> All of this can be done using MooTools, but I'm sure I could 
> accomplish it with another library as well.
>
> Has anyone else already implemented or planning on implementing a 
> different JS library?  Pros / Cons of the various libs?
> I would love to see us come to an agreement on a specific toolset so 
> we can all move in the same direction, help each other and leverage 
> each others work.
>
> Thanks!
> Mark
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