My Library is a new, open source Javascript library (published on Google code Jan. 2010) that starts off doing things "the right way". It's not
My as in mine, but
My as in yours--something you can make your own!
The first (and only) cross-browser Javascript library
Unlike
every other Javascript library out there (think: jQuery, Prototype, YUI, script.aculo.us, Dojo, MooTools, qooxdoo, etc.),
My Library does no "user-agent sniffing" or "Object inference" (discussed in detail
here). It performs proper feature detection and presents a dynamic API at runtime, which is detected by your application and handled accordingly.
What does that mean? Instead of trying to guess which browser the library someone is using,
My Library detects what the browser is capable of--and adapts accordingly "on the fly". (This is called "degrading gracefully".) Instead of "supporting" only a limited number of known web-browsers,
My Library plays nicely with
any web-browser, even web-browsers that haven't been released, yet! (This is something that the other "sniffing" libraries will never be capable of doing.)
Indeed, one of the
My Library slogans is "Write once, do nothing, run anywhere, forever!", purposefully mocking jQuery's "write less, do more" slogan. ;)
Download builder: the smaller the better!
Not only does it offer a dynamic API at runtime, it offers a customizable
download builder. Instead of overloading your clients with Kilobytes of Javascript libraries, you only have to download and serve the code your web-application requires. This makes your web-application more responsive at load time
and spares the clients with slower download rates and resources (think: smartphones).
Fast!
Using "quasi-standard" industry tests like "SlickSpeed" and "TaskSpeed"....
- In the latest web-browsers, My Library at least ties the fastest of the other Javascript libraries and CSS selection libraries--and on modern hardware, this difference is negligible. Although the errors some of the other popular libraries throw are not negligible!
- In older web-browsers, it decisively dominates the competition.
- In obscure browsers (ever heard of "Green" or "Sleipnir" browsers?), My Library is the only library that doesn't die from execution errors.
And you can try out the tests
for yourself.
The down side?
The only down sides I am aware of is a current lack of community support (it's only 3 months old, OK) and that the documentation is at a minimal level. But with a few more months of growth, it should have a set of widget plugins, proper (and expanding) documentation, and a more active community.
So, where do I find it?
The home of
My Library is at
www.cinsoft.net/mylib.html. Check out the Examples, then head over to the "Builder" and give it a whirl.
Cheers!
