Dojo 0.3.0 was released with many new features. Dojo must be the best JavaScript library, it really makes me think if I should rewrite some ColdFusion components to generate Dojo widgets and Ajax binding ... sounds like a great project too me, if you're interested drop me an email.

At the Ajax Experience, Alex demonstrated a new use of the Flash Platform with Ajax: storage! Flash has be ability of storing large amount of data local objects, which is something like a Flash Cookie. By default you can store 300k of persistent data, up to 500k. Dojo makes use of this storage transparently by using a 1px flash component ... really neat.

The latest release of Dojo has a slew of new features, including:

• Less boilerplate when writing widgets
• A new lightweight animation system that makes using and building animations dead simple
• Tested, high-performance local storage engine
• Cross-domain Ajax support and cross-domain package loading
• The ability to bundle CSS as well as HTML in profile builds
• Better performance
• New widgets:
  • SortableTable
  • TitlePane
  • Form validation
  • Menus and menu bars
  • Google and Yahoo maps
• And more than a hundred other bug fixes and improvements.

I just listed a bunch of Ajax frameworks, libraries, and toolkits ... I just realized I need to go back a step... what is the difference among them? These are the differences how I see them; it's not an official definition, but just explaining the differences in simple words.

Library: consists only of a series of functions.
example: Dojo, prototype, script.aculo.us

Framework: library plus methodology, event or process management, and other utilities that facilitates writing a program.
example: Fusebox, Model Glue, Mach II

Toolkit: framework plus an IDE. It's a complete solution for your needs.
example: Microsoft Atlas, Ticbo GI, Zimbra AT.


So anyways, Adobe is developing their version of an Ajax Library called Spry. Ray Camden seems to like it. I haven't tried it yet, but I will sometime this upcoming week. Not sure why Adobe is even interested in getting in this game, unless they have some big plans of taking this library and allowing for creating Ajax pages with server side calls through ColdFusion ... I'll post more on this soon.

Harshad Harshad Oak posted an entry with seven Ajax toolkits / frameworks to watch out for ... Google Web Toolkit, Dojo, Yahoo! User Interface Library, Direct Web Remoting, Spry framework for Ajax, Mochikit, and Script.aculo.us.

Some of them I agree, some not ... and it's missing a few too.

GWT may succeed just because it's Google; it's nice and intuitive for Java Developers, but somewhat limited. We should expect major improvements in this framework over the next few months.

Dojo is the best JavaScript library out there... really nicely thought, OOP, with many Widgets and Ajax support. It is also being used by the Open Ajax Effort, which is developing an IDE built over Eclipse...
The Y! UIL has great patterns and their userbase is growing. I haven't followed it closely, but I wouldn't bet money on this one.

DRW is being developed by Joe Walker. He's a very bright guy, but being alone in this game doesn't help... DRW 2.0 is coming soon and has built in capabilities for reverse Ajax / comet and JSF interfaces... Up till now DWR was the most widely used library in the Java world, but GWT has a greater chance to succeed.

Spry is an attempt from Adobe to get in the game. IMO, unless Adobe builds this in ColdFusion somehow, they have no business here. It's a nice framework, somewhat limited at the moment, not advertised, but no where nearly as mature as many other frameworks...

Mochikit is too small ... it  will not grow as fast as needed and disappear over time.

Script.aculo.us is a nice low level animation library. It doesn't do Ajax and shouldnt be on this list. While it's a great library, used by RoR and will be around forever, it doesn't belong in this list.

In addition to all these products, we're missing some big players! Microsoft for instance. Atlas will be by far the most widely used Ajax framework ... I am not a Microsoft fan myself, but Altas was very well thought and it's a great product. Also, Laszlo, Tibco, Zimbra AT, Backbase, are larger than many libraries mentioned in this list... All of them are mature products, some are commercial, but you deserve to be on this list.

The Open Ajax Effort is moving forward, adding ajax support for Eclipse using the Ajax Toolkit Framework (ATF). They are aiming to build in support for the Zimbra AT and Dojo. An Ajax IDE will be a great resource and will help weeding out many small Ajax libraries.

IBM's contribution to the launch of the new Open Ajax Initiative aims to increase accessibility to the powerful Web programming technique through the Eclipse Foundation. To help prepare developers for the new tool set, this article introduces two existing runtime tools -- Dojo and Zimbra -- which will be supported in Eclipse's Ajax Toolkit Framework (ATF).

As the adoption of Ajax helps the Web reach new levels of interactivity and responsiveness, the importance of enterprise-class development tools will continue to grow. The ATF, Dojo, and Zimbra are key components to this advancement. As Web audiences continue to demand better, faster, smoother Web applications, the burden is on tool kit developers and the browser manufacturers to maintain a cooperative environment that encourages advancements in UI and cross-platform compatibility. The Open Ajax Initiative is a framework in and of itself, built for just such a purpose.

As the Open Ajax Initiative makes strides and the ATF comes to life, this series will continue, providing technical detail and tutorials for building Ajax applications in Eclipse.

Flash lite is creating a buzz, it's going to be huge, and you're still on time to be one of the pioneers. Mobile applications are penetrating Europe and should become huge in the US shortly. Opera developed an Ajax capable Mobile browser, and Adobe has Flash Lite installed in many phones, already used by a few million customers. This site offers application source code, which is great for learning ...