A Collection of Ajax / DHTML Toolkits

I’ve just started using another Ajax framework in a current project I’m working on. This one is known as SACK, the Simple AJAX Code-Kit. Its usage is very similar to zXml, but is better encapsulated, so it generally requires fewer lines of code on my part to accomplish the same thing, though with the corollary that some flexibility is lost.

It’s not an effects library, and doesn’t do many of the nifty things that other Ajax libraries do. It’s only intended to manage the details of connecting to a server, checking the response, and then forwarding execution back to you.

SACK is available via Twilight Universe, though it seems that things are being rearranged a bit at the moment.

All of these Ajax libraries are getting hard to track, so here is a list of several of the libraries that I use:

• Simple AJAX Code-Kit (SACK): see above
• zXml: similar to SACK; general purpose connection library
• AdvancedAJAX: add request batching, caching, connection retries, and more control via events to SACK or zXml and this is what you get. It’s more than twice the size at 17KB, but the extra features are handy. For example, you can use the events to display and clear a progress indicator, add messages, etc. You can do the same with the other libraries, as well, but AdvancedAJAX builds the support into the script.
• moo.fx: not strictly an Ajax library, but rather a lightweight, general-purpose JavaScript library. It’s handy, and when I get around to announcing the last project I was working on (Amazon OnTheGo widget porting to Java ME), you can check out two effects created with moo.fx: smooth scrolling pages, and an accordion-like effect.
• Google Web Toolkit (GWT): This has been in my “Review” folder for quite some time, but I have never used it. According to Google, you can write a client application in Java, and then use the GWT to convert it to JavaScript and HTML that is cross-browser compatible. There’s a learning curve on this one.
• Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUI): Not strictly Ajax, but a wealth of tools for DOM scripting, events, animations, drag and drop, Ajax connections, sliders, calendars, tooltips, panels, dialogs, auto-complete, treeview. Yes, there’s a lot of good stuff here.
• Prototype: the one library to rule them all. What doesn’t run on Prototype?
• Rico: the usual Ajax functions, plus drag and drop, animation effects, accordions, and LiveGrid.
• script.aculo.us: you can make some killer effects with this library, and it also includes a slider, auto-complete, drag and drop, and sortable lists (drag and drop variations).
• The X Library: another all-purpose library, but like Prototype, X is very mature and stable, and is of substantial assistance when working with the DOM or the browser event model.
• MochiKit: seems to be gaining in popularity, but I have never used it myself.
• dojo: an extensive widget-based framework. Dojo is heavy enough to be considered a full web development framework, and it has some seriously nifty containers and UI controls.

This list is not intended to be comprehensive; it’s just an overview of what I use, or have bookmarked in my browser for investigation.

Tags: JavaScript, web applications, web 2.0, Ajax