Seven Ajax Frameworks / Toolkits to watch out for

AJAXEnabledFrameworksToolkitsAjax was easily the most talked about technology at JavaOne 2006. Java developers it seemed wanted to get into Ajax by any means possible. So there were 100s lined up for every session that had “Ajax” in its title. It does make sense for developers to try and pick up Ajax soon, as the Ajax hype will move beyond the tech community and you would soon see managers and customers demanding that their applications be Ajaxed. Irrespective of what you think of Ajax, you now have to be able to develop Ajax apps.

Understanding Ajax is one part of the issue however the more complex part is that of actually implementing it. As no real Java developer can develop an application without using a framework, it was only a matter of time before hundreds of Ajax frameworks sprang up. With frameworks, there’s always the concern that you will lock your applications into the framework or even worse adopt a framework that isn’t suited to your needs.

You also need to watch out for frameworks that claim Ajax enabled solely because they have included a popular Ajax Javascript framework in their distribution. Using readymade Ajax enabled JSF components is also a good option that needs to be considered.

Here I have listed a handful of frameworks that I thought will serve us well over the long run. The primary factors I relied on were 1) already established 2) promoted by a major player.

If you feel any other framework should have been on this list, do add a comment.

1) Google Web Toolkit – Build AJAX apps in the Java language: Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is a Java software development framework that makes writing AJAX applications like Google Maps and Gmail easy for developers who don’t speak browser quirks as a second language.
http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/

2) Dojo: Dojo is an Open Source DHTML toolkit written in JavaScript. Dojo aims to solve some long-standing historical problems with DHTML which prevented mass adoption of dynamic web application development.
http://dojotoolkit.org/

3) Yahoo! User Interface Library: The Yahoo! User Interface (YUI) Library is a set of utilities and controls, written in JavaScript, for building richly interactive web applications using techniques such as DOM scripting, DHTML and AJAX.
http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/

4) Direct Web Remoting: DWR allows Javascript in a browser to interact with Java on a server and helps you manipulate web pages with the results.
http://getahead.ltd.uk/dwr/

5) Spry framework for Ajax:
The Spry framework for Ajax is a JavaScript library for web designers that provides functionality that allows designers to build pages that provide a richer experience for their users. It is designed to bring Ajax to the web design community who can benefit from Ajax, but are not well served by other frameworks.
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/spry/

6) Mochikit: MochiKit is a free lightweight JavaScript library.
http://mochikit.com/

7) Script.aculo.us: Provides you with easy-to-use, compatible and, ultimately, totally cool JavaScript libraries to
make your web sites and web applications fly, Web 2.0 style.
http://script.aculo.us/

With Ajax, there’s a difference between Javascript based client side frameworks and Java based server side frameworks. So you will also find several serverside frameworks that include one of the client side frameworks mentioned above.

It’s time developers start getting their hands dirty trying out these frameworks and being Ajax ready!

Harshad Oak

Related:
>> Is AJAX worth adopting?
>> Ajax technologies aren’t particularly new or sexy
>> Rails has a huge lead on integrated Ajax development
>> New RAD platform to fill the J2EE-AJAX void
>> Webwork integrates with Dojo

Harshad Oak

Harshad Oak is the founder of Rightrix Solutions & IndicThreads. He is the author of 3 books and several articles on Java technology. For his contributions to technology and the community, he has been recognized as an Oracle ACE Director and a Sun Java Champion. Contact - harshad aT rightrix doT com & @HarshadOak

60 thoughts on “Seven Ajax Frameworks / Toolkits to watch out for

  • January 27, 2007 at 4:44 pm
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    [URL=http://www.ajaxlines.com]Ajaxlines[/URL] will help you to find more toolkits

  • January 27, 2007 at 4:44 pm
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    [URL=http://www.ajaxlines.com]Ajaxlines[/URL] will help you to find more toolkits

  • January 24, 2007 at 7:48 am
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    Have you tried [URL=http://ajaxwidgets.com]http://ajaxwidgets.com[/URL]

  • January 24, 2007 at 7:48 am
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    Have you tried [URL=http://ajaxwidgets.com]http://ajaxwidgets.com[/URL]

  • July 28, 2006 at 3:25 am
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    Hello Can any body tell how GWt can be used with Struts framework ?
    If i want to call Action class from GWT , How can i do tht ?

  • July 28, 2006 at 3:25 am
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    Hello Can any body tell how GWt can be used with Struts framework ?
    If i want to call Action class from GWT , How can i do tht ?

  • June 21, 2006 at 4:08 am
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    ThinWire is a pure Server-Side framework that you might want to add to your list. ItÂ’s open-source under the GPL and has been used to build huge financial applications. In any case, some of itÂ’s features are:

    * Familiar event-driven GUI programming model

    * Reconnects the flow of logic, no request / response

    * Maintains state naturally via variables, not via session

    * Develop exclusively in server-side language only

    * Rich Set of Complex Widget Components

    * ThinWire downloads once, just over 100K

    * Zero footprint client, no applets, activeX controls or browser plug-ins of any kind!

    * All Major Browsers Supported: Firefox 1, Opera 8, Safari 2, IE6

    http://www.thinwire.com :eek

  • June 21, 2006 at 4:08 am
    Permalink

    ThinWire is a pure Server-Side framework that you might want to add to your list. ItÂ’s open-source under the GPL and has been used to build huge financial applications. In any case, some of itÂ’s features are:

    * Familiar event-driven GUI programming model

    * Reconnects the flow of logic, no request / response

    * Maintains state naturally via variables, not via session

    * Develop exclusively in server-side language only

    * Rich Set of Complex Widget Components

    * ThinWire downloads once, just over 100K

    * Zero footprint client, no applets, activeX controls or browser plug-ins of any kind!

    * All Major Browsers Supported: Firefox 1, Opera 8, Safari 2, IE6

    http://www.thinwire.com :eek

  • June 7, 2006 at 1:06 am
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    Qooxdoo is sure a framework to watch out for (and is missed out often in the countdowns).

    Though the above mentioned frameworks are lightweight and provide ajax in their innovative moulds, Qooxdoo is an awesome javascript/DHTML framework for developing rich applications on the web, and in short words, can be described as

    ‘Visual Component Library (VCL) for Javascript’

  • June 7, 2006 at 1:06 am
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    Qooxdoo is sure a framework to watch out for (and is missed out often in the countdowns).

    Though the above mentioned frameworks are lightweight and provide ajax in their innovative moulds, Qooxdoo is an awesome javascript/DHTML framework for developing rich applications on the web, and in short words, can be described as

    ‘Visual Component Library (VCL) for Javascript’

  • June 4, 2006 at 8:18 pm
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    ajax, but there are no referring to zk1.
    Nobody knows, Strenge, very much?!

  • June 4, 2006 at 8:18 pm
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    ajax, but there are no referring to zk1.
    Nobody knows, Strenge, very much?!

  • June 3, 2006 at 1:22 am
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    I use [URL=http://sardalya.pbwiki.com]sardalya[/URL] all the time. It speeds up your development once you get used to. The developer has recently added an Effect part.

    One thing I like about the API is it is under constant development and each next release is far richer than the former. Even the most recent unstable version is quite stable imho.

    It is not as detailed as YUI library or scriptaculous but it suits my needs even so.

  • June 3, 2006 at 1:22 am
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    I use [URL=http://sardalya.pbwiki.com]sardalya[/URL] all the time. It speeds up your development once you get used to. The developer has recently added an Effect part.

    One thing I like about the API is it is under constant development and each next release is far richer than the former. Even the most recent unstable version is quite stable imho.

    It is not as detailed as YUI library or scriptaculous but it suits my needs even so.

  • June 2, 2006 at 10:12 pm
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    XDBC.js from [URL=http://www.challenger.se/]http://www.challenger.se/[/URL]
    shows some real promise.

    XML+XSL+Transform = innerHTML.

    view Dev Docs > XDBC > Tutorials

  • June 2, 2006 at 10:12 pm
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    XDBC.js from [URL=http://www.challenger.se/]http://www.challenger.se/[/URL]
    shows some real promise.

    XML+XSL+Transform = innerHTML.

    view Dev Docs > XDBC > Tutorials

  • June 2, 2006 at 2:01 pm
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    I hardly see the moo toolkit on these lists, but it usually gets mentioned in the comments. Not sure why it isn’t more well known. It’s a free lightweight framework that I’ve enjoyed working with.

  • June 2, 2006 at 2:01 pm
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    I hardly see the moo toolkit on these lists, but it usually gets mentioned in the comments. Not sure why it isn’t more well known. It’s a free lightweight framework that I’ve enjoyed working with.

  • June 2, 2006 at 1:25 pm
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    Try creating Google Map using GWT. Like is in between lines (oh ya ! it has to be in English). In theory you can create everything starting from machine laguage.

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