Where’s the Prototype Framework community?
Over the past year, I’ve been using the Prototype javascript framework. I like it because of it’s simplicity, documentation and speed. I’ve also been keeping an eye on the progression of jQuery. I’ve noticed one very big thing that I just can’t seem to find with Prototype … The jQuery community is booming!
To back my comment, take a look at the jQuery plugins repository. It is chock-full of useful plugins that use the jQuery framework. Granted, there are a good amount of plugins for the Prototype framework, but where’s the wiki/community site for them? Or is there a site, but I just have not come across it yet?
Here’s a great start to a few of the notable plugins for Prototype that I’ve found are:
script.aculo.us - The most famous plugin/add-on using the Prototype framework. This adds animation, drag & drop, AJAX controls, DOM utilities and unit testing
Prototype Window Class (PWC) - A great class that allows you to add floating/modal skinnable windows to your page.
TableKit (Dexagogo) - Dexagogo provides many scripts based on the Prototype framework. The most notable is the TableKit. This provides an easy way to add sorting, column resizing, row striping and inline cell editing.
LivePipe Projects - Ryan Johnson also has a few scripts that use the Prototype framework. His Control Suite and Prototype.Tidbits are great add-ons and definitely worth looking into.
LightWindow 2.0 - I am really impressed with this plugin. This is the cats meow when it comes to any type of lightbox. I really like the Flash Paper example.
When it comes down to it, maybe I shouldn’t be basing the community involvement by just a plugins repository, but jQuery’s repository shows me how many different people are writing plugins and how often. It’s provides me a central location to possibly come up with new ideas for plugins or just a way for me to find something so I don’t have to recreate the wheel.
I’ve also noticed more and more articles being published on “How to do X with jQuery”. I try to keep up with my blogroll and feeds as much as I can, and I see an overabundance of jQuery focused articles.
Am I the only one who notices this? Please, let me know if I am wrong with this observation.
- Joe
Update: John Resig (creator of jQuery) posted a great article on the jQuery and open source community today.
I have definitely noticed this. It’s unfortunate, because I really like Prototype. Then again, maybe we should fix this rather than complain about it
Shadowfiend,
I agree! The reason why I posted the article was to get some feedback to gauge if a wiki/repository would be used by existing Prototype users.
If enough comments come in, I hope to dedicate some time setting up a wiki/repository.
- Joe
Awesome. And with a starting list like the one you provided (LightWindow, by the way, is one I was not familiar with — it’s awesome), you have a list of people to initially contact about being listed in there, too
I’d be willing to help, time permitting, if you were to decide to do this!
Joe,
We are aware of this and doing everything possible. The repository is in development right now and soon to be released.
Another thing to mention is documentation for beginners, which is something we all really need.
I see a lot of complains in a channel about official API being quite confusing and not giving simple explanation to common tasks.
kangax,
Thank you for your comment!
After doing a Google search, I found this.
Let me know if there is anything I can help with.
Thanks!
- Joe
@Shadowfiend:
“I’d be willing to help, time permitting, if you were to decide to do this!”
A worthy goal!
From the outside, jQuery looks more like a community, Prototype more like a top down project. I could be wrong, that’s just the way it looks to me. Adding a Prototype plugin repository would help many people with Prototype development.
One way to scale your application is to reuse existing OSS projects
Peace
-stephan
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I think at it’s simplest, beginner’s documentation would start with “Prototype brings Rubyisms to Javascript”. Sure, it’s more complicated than that, but once you understand that, things start making a lot more sense
a repository / wiki would be a cool addition to the prototype community. And you left out my personal favorite: low-pro
Hi Joe. I can tell ya that as a member of the jQuery project team, we all try very hard to be completely available to the jQuery community and address the needs of users; from beginners to advanced gurus. Its something that I’ve found lacking in many OSS projects and has contributed to the high adoption rates of jQuery.
Another thing that sets us apart is our willingness to engage them on several fronts including support, asking for about their needs, providing good documentation, and proactively seeking seeking out users to ensure that they’re having a positive experience with jQuery. We have ongoing relationships with other libs and do our best to establish good lines of communications between the projects. Ext is a great example of that and we have a rock solid relationship with Jack Slocum.
We also focus on communicating our developments to online mediums including blogs and magazines. A new book was also recently release titled, “Learning jQuery” (http://www.amazon.com/Learning-jQuery-Interaction-Development-JavaScript/dp/1847192505/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-0158311-6322036?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185574388&sr=8-1)
which works to take new users through the steps to become proficient in the library. It was co-authored ny jQuery team member Karl Swedberg who is constantly helping users on the jQuery list.
Finally, we’re always professional when replying to posts that may not always provide the most current information about jQuery. While I’ve seen others jump down a poor blogger’s throat about some inaccuracy, we believe that by providing facts in a courteous manner, we’ll at the very least earn the respect of a person and possibly a new user.
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