What JS library can be selected for RIA REST based application

Question

I have ad idea to make some REST application. I already selected what I will use on server side. But now I have a big big deal, what i should use to make RICH web app ?

I have middle javascript knowledges. I know jquery, I did my own jquery plugin. it should tell you about my level, so far from pro level.

But i would like to try make it by my self. And i'm thinking that jQuery it's not good choice for this kind of task. I would like to have something more flexible, and not looks like a lot of callback for specific events. Something maybe in MVC style.. But i don't want to spend a lot of hour to lear complicated stuff.

For example: ini PHP life there are a lot of frameworks, I choose Yii, it's really more easier to understand and make something, than Symfony (even 2nd version) for instance.

So i'm looking something similar Yii (but for a browser side), something fast, easy to learn, flexible and powerfull.

I thought maybe it could be cofeescript, or cappuccino or something else ...

BUT I don't have so much time to learn and try so many JS frameworks and libraries to make decision by my self, this is why i'm asking you all.

Thanks.

Have you looked at any JS MVC framework? Backbone, Ember, Knockout, etc? — Florian Margaine, Apr 20 '12 at 06:59

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 20 '12 at 07:09

Typically my choice would be:

jQuery - for general stuff
Q promises library for handling of more complicated asynchronous operations
Backbone for building model on the client side
Mustache templates for interaction with HTML
Jasmine - for unit testing of the application

However if you plan to make very rich user interface, you need to handle many various events and you don't want to write your own visual controls (since they are complicated) you can go with ExtJS (note the potencial need to buy licence).

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 20 '12 at 06:59

For me Jquery ui has always been easy to use with my limited javascript knowledge .The learning curve wasn't steep at all and lots of community plugins helped in the further development as well .

Apart from that you can try Mootools , Extjs (very nice components but requires a bit learning ) and yui (definite learning required for me ) .

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 20 '12 at 07:04

I would recommend using jQuery because you already have some knowledge about it. When it comes jQuery UI it offers some functionality: http://jqueryui.com/demos/. Is this functionality RICH enough?

On top of jQuery, you can use several JS libraries to fullfil specific needs:

Charts:

http://www.highcharts.com/

Grid:

http://www.activewidgets.com/

When you are using JS it's really important that you keep your own JS code in good order. Devide your functionality into separate js-files. Think about your object structure. JS is prototypal language (you can inherit directly from other objects).

For me it took some time to find out the way to write good JS code. I highly recommend this book: JavaScript: The Good Parts (by Douglas Crockford).

// Namespace
var MyNameSpace = {};

MyNameSpace.vehicle = function() {
  var that = {};
  var my = my || {};

  my.thisIsMyOwn;

  that.publicFunction = function() {
    my.thisIsMyOwn = "put something here";
  };

  return that;
};

MyNameSpace.car = function() {
  var that = MyNameSpace.vehicle(); // "inheritance"

  return that;
};

What JS library can be selected for RIA REST based application

3 Answers3