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.
Update: John Resig (creator of jQuery) posted a great article on the jQuery and open source community today.