Top 10 Web Developer Libraries
I decided to make a list of the top libraries that I have come across or that I personally use. Libraries can be a web developers best friend. They are great resources to learn from and can save hours and hours of time. These libraries include JavaScript, Ajax, Colors, PHP, and CSS. These should be in any web developers bookmarks, so go ahead and look through these libraries and bookmark your favorite ones. The list is in no particular order.
1) Moo.fx - A superlightweight, ultratiny, megasmall javascript effects library, written with prototype.js. It’s easy to use, fast, cross-browser, standards compliant, provides controls to modify Height, Width, and Opacity with builtin checks that won’t let a user break the effect with multiple crazy clicks. It’s also optimized to make you write the lesser code possible.
2) Rico - An open source JavaScript library for creating rich internet applications. Provides full Ajax support, drag and drop management, and a cinematic effects library.
3) Swat - Developed by silverorange, Swat is an open source web application toolkit built with PHP.
4) ColorCombos - Who would’ve thought a color library would end up mixed in with a bunch of JavaScript and PHP libraries? Well they do have a pretty sweet little color library for finding color combinations, all you do is select the color and they show you some nice combos that work with that color.
5) 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. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say this library is my favorite.
6) Mochikit - A kick-ass lightweight JavaScript library that will help you get shit done fast.
7) Dynamic Drive CSS Library - Here you’ll find original, practical CSS codes and examples such as CSS menus to give your site a visual boast.
PEAR - A framework and distribution system for reusable PHP components. PEAR provides the above mentioned PHP components in the form of so called “Packages”.
9) DHTML Goodies - A good sized library of DHTML and AJAX scripts.
10) dojo - Open source JavaScript toolkit that makes professional web development better, easier, and faster.
Honorable Mentions
11) Cross Browser | Toys - Huge JavaScript library.
12) Yahoo UI 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. The YUI Library also includes several core CSS resources.
Big thanks to all of those who have help in anyway to put one of these libraries together.
I hope you find this list helpful. Keep in mind there’s hundred of libraries available online, I don’t know all of them and I’m sure I missed a few good ones, feel free to add your favorites in the comments below.
A web developer is only as good as the tools he has available, including search engine optimization resources and libraries.
Cameron Olthuis is the Founder of
for this being a developer “showcase” you could ave made it look a little nicer
This seems to be a nice compilation, might come in handy. On the other hand this seems to have been quickly put together…
You’re missing a big one on that list; http://www.jquery.com
Wesley, thanks for the suggestion. keep them coming. That goes for anyone else that wants to add their favorites.
Fromalk, glad to hear you found this handy. I’ve had these all bookmarked for awhile now so I already knew about them, that cut down the amount of time this post took.
Grant, not exactly sure what you’re trying to say. Are you saying you don’t like the look of my blog? I’m also open for feedback just be more descriptive. Thanks.
Brilliant!
have a look at haXe: http://www.haxe.org - it’s a nice approach imho. ECMAscript-ish language with APIs for server- & clientside scripting, targeting client platforms like AJAX and Macromedia Flash.
another one i find not only quite cool but actually use it since a few months is OpenLaszlo. declarative XML-ish code, targeting Macromedia Flash and soon AJAX.
oh, and that gesture you’re making with your little finger on that photograph below is the regional greeting here in aachen, germany. it’s called “klenkes”.
forgot to provide the link for my latter suggestion for that list:
http://www.openlaszlo.org
Here’s on I use daily, Seagull Framework - http://www.seagullproject.org. It has very module codebase that provides me with the basic functionality necessary in almost all web applications: User Authentication & Permissions, DB Abstration, Input Filtering & Data Validation, Error Handling & Logging and a handful of pre-built modules. Best of all the underlying structure is PEAR which ensures that the wheel is never reinvented and instead actively improved upon. Seagull is PHP 4/5 compatiable with a PHP 5 only version planned for development in the near future. Seagull can also be easily integrated with any template engine and 3rd party applications also providing a signle sign on.
I would recommend to check out JSON if you are looking for AJAX library.
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I use Drupal, it started as a content management system but it is so modular and hackable with php that it a library and a framework. Like Rails for PHP. It has support for most of the above libraries included. It’s worth checking out.
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PEAR is mentioned, but not CPAN
Looks more like a random bunch of links to me. Pitty.
John - I’ve never really used CPAN because I don’t really do anything with Perl. Thanks for mentioning it though.
Thanks to everyone else for their recommendations, if you have any more keep them coming.
grant tucker said “for this being a developer “showcase†you could ave made it look a little nicer”
—————–
clean, simple design is actually refreshing. would you prefer some gradients and blink tags? maybe a top 10 list calls for some ajax?
and as great as it is, CPAN isn’t really appropriate - it is an omni-repository of modules for perl. a specific module or bundle from CPAN maybe, but not the whole site. it’s like saying you should include sourceforge in a top 10 list of best open-source applications.
thanks for this list. i’ve got some learning to do now.
I think the title should be “PHP Web Developer Libraries”
Rails itself springs to mind on things left out of a general WebDev list. I’m sure there are lots of amazing Java libraries for those kids. Python is also not without it sexy tools.
Something like this should really be a voted system broken down by technology and language.
Cater, if you know some RoR libraries please post them. I’ve never done anything with Rails so that’s why I didn’t list any. I would love to turn this into some kind of greater resource down the road so the more suggestions the better.
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I second Carter - this list has an overly heavy PHP emphasis. I’d definitly include google’s web toolkit - Java to Javascript compilation is pretty cool. And rails itself is rather incredible.
It seems that these are all client-side UI tools (except perhaps PEAR), which is fine–but I’d like a generic web development list to have at least a little meat in the backend. Pretty flying javascript widgets are a little useless if they’re built on top of a convoluted, torpid middle tier.
I suppose I beg the question by my definition what a “web” developer is: I assume the entire web application, including the internals, are part of the web developer’s domain.
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How in the world is MochiKit lightweight? Their drag-n-drop demo includes over 200kB and the “packed” version of the whole lib is 142kB. Moo.fx (17kB including all the goodies), jQuery (16kB full) — these are really light.
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Top 10 librerias web
Lista top de librerias recomendadas, en realidad 12, ya que hay dos menciones especiales.
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Why top 10?I think should top 20 .
There have so many lweb ibs which are very important
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[…] I decided to make a list of the top libraries that I have come across or that I personally use. Libraries can be a web developers best friend. They are great resources to learn from and can save hours and hours of time. These libraries include JavaScript, Ajax, Colors, PHP, and CSS. These should be in any web developers bookmarks, so go ahead and look through these libraries and bookmark your favorite ones. The list is in no particular order. […]
I (as the author of it) use sardalya all the time
It has recently been given an A grade in “musings from mars”
http://www.musingsfrommars.org/2006/03/ajax-dhtml-library-scorecard.html
So, imho, it is at least worth mentioning as a comment.
I currently use it in a large AJAX project and enhance it further in the meantime.
Cheers;
Volkan.
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I guess solid, centralized, and complete documentation is not a criteria for your list? After reviewing almost every one of those libraries, our group decided to go with YUI since it provided us with every needed effect, and left no questions when documentation was required.
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I agree with Carter and Brendan. Although I don’t see you mention your field of expertise in “find out more about me”, it seems that this list is mostly client side functionality (JavaScript / AJAX) and PHP stuff.
Since the web is full of opinion’s, maybe you ought to change it from
Top 10 Web Developer Libraries
to
My Favorite Web Developer Libraries
The main premise is that you can’t put a useful link to something you wouldn’t use or won’t know how to use. For example, a Java guy would have a bunch of stuff that would be useless to you or me (a PHP guy).
All that said, thanks for the list! I already found very useful links!
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You’re leaving jQuery off that list. 10kb file size, includes the moo.fx effects, and has chainable functions. I’m not a JavaScript guru, but I’ve used Prototype and script.aculo.us and jQuery is now the #1 choice for me.
Brian, Thanks, fortunately Wesley already caught that
http://www.cameronolthuis.com/2006/06/top-10-web-developer-libraries/#comment-1678
Thanks for the suggestion though, if you have any more I’d love to hear about them
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Another tip: WebFX at http://webfx.eae.net/
They have some cool controls.
ThinWire is a Java, pure Server-Side framework that you might want to look at. It’s open-source under the GPL and has been used to build very large financial applications. In any case, some of its features are:
* Familiar event-driven GUI programming model
* Reconnects the flow of logic, no request / response
* Maintains state naturally via variables, not via session
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* 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
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Joshua - Thanks, I will take a look.
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very usefull things, thanks for the post!
Top 10 Web Developer Libraries
These libraries include JavaScript, Ajax, Colors, PHP, and CSS. These should be in any web developers bookmarks, so go ahead and look through these libraries and bookmark your favorite ones. The list is in no particular order.
Top 10 Web Developer Libr…
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CakePHP (http://www.cakephp.org). Rails-like framework for PHP.
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[…] This article was found originally found here: 1) Moo.fx - A superlightweight, ultratiny, megasmall javascript effects library, written with prototype.js. It’s easy to use, fast, cross-browser, standards compliant, provides controls to modify Height, Width, and Opacity with builtin checks that won’t let a user break the effect with multiple crazy clicks. It’s also optimized to make you write the lesser code possible. […]
Mostly Frontend development toolkit and with PHP bias (Just what I need!)
Question is why do you need to use so many different js/ajax tools?
I know some provide functions that others do not but if you take an intersection, lot of the functions are repeated across the set.
I had also choosen YUI as someone above mentioned. It is well documented and hopefully Yahoo is not one that will leave a project dangling around when something more fun appears.
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Web Designers are sure going to Love this.
you may also like WYMstyle: a CSS framework made by me. It has modular CSS files and it allows to build CSS layouts very quickly. It reduces the need for browser testing too.
With addons, it acts also as a library, so it can be extended with many extra features like for example these from the Dynamic Drive CSS Library.
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Hi,
Your webisite is very good.
It is beneficial to new designer.
This seems like just an article to be post on the net.
nothing really hot here
That’s a nice list. There are some very interesting libraries listed in this overview that I didn’t know of. Thanks.
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What about the prototype library?
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Great post Cameron! Subscribed to your rss feed and looking forward to more powerful development tools like these!
I don’t care what it l@@ks like. If your willing to share I’m willing to listen! Thanks for sharing.
Good Job
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Yes libraries are very helpful in our business. Thanks for pointing them out.
Thanks for the kind words.
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Jquery
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机票
机票
Wonderfull!!!. This tools helps me a lot. Thanks!
We are using this tool first time for our application
I think that RICO is the best.
how come codeigniter is out of this list?
Top 10 Developer Libraries
I suggest using genuine Perl CMS only. Why? Because they are safer, faster and less buggy. Drupal and other php CMS systems were created mainly for kids and web designers who find the original Perl language to difficult to learn. It does not take to account the fact that Perl has been there longer and is supplemented with millions of scripts and addons!
I use WebAPP CMS from: http://www.web-app.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi Open Source WebAPP CMS because its both written in PURE Perl and the fantastic 24/7 supporting community.
Murice
[…] Top 10 Web Developer Libraries […]
What about jQuery?
um, no jQuery? I would have to say i’m surprised that isn’t up there. jQuery is lite, and extremely effective, also contains DOM, events, ajax, effects,etc. all in one and gzipped, is only around 17kb.
To fellow jquery zealots: This article was published two years ago, and at that time jquery was only a blip on the radar. I also find it mind-boggling that it’s NOT NUMBER ONE on this list but this’s not a fight worth picking.
Cheers
Alex
Where’s jQuery?
where is jquery hmm…
jQuery is the best!! definitely!
Great resources for web developers
nice site d00d
heres mine