topJavaScript
I am an experienced JavaScript programmer, having used it since Netscape first released JavaScript 1.0. Prototype.js was the first
real 3rd party JavaScript library I used. It is certainly a powerful API, and Scriptaculous added many nice effects. I have used them
both for many years, in many projects, but these days I tend to use jQuery.
jQuery is a fast and concise JavaScript Library that simplifies HTML document traversing, event handling,
animating, and Ajax interactions for rapid web development. I have been using it for about 2 years now and there is no other library
I would rather use. Its extensive documentation, combined with what seems to be an endless sea of plugins, makes jQuery the JavaScript
library of choice for any serious web developer. jQuery is also very light-weight, weighing only 19KB when minified and Gzipped.
topPrototype
Prototype is a JavaScript Framework that aims to ease development of dynamic web applications,
and it sure has. Prototype was the first JavaScript library I used heavily, and because of its popularity, I still use it today.
topScriptaculoos
I have used
Scriptaculous for many years now. It is an animation & effects library built for use with
prototype. It has many nice features, but I am sad to say it was not very well maintained, and I found it to be rather buggy in complicated
markup situations. For all of its shortcomings however, I learned how to adapt to make it work and built some really rich web-based applications.
MooTools and
Moo.fx are another pair much like Prototype and Scriptaculous.
MooTools has many nice features, and comes in a very small package, it is hard to ignore. Moo.fx is very small too, making the pair of them a very
powerful, light-weight tool for JavaScript programming. I have only used MooTools and Moo.fx in personal projects, and to try it out, but
as it matures I look forward to using it more.
