From Two 2 Twelve

Why Not To Exclusively Use One Javascript Framework

Since I began using Ruby on Rails I’ve never really thought of using any other javascript framework except the standard Prototype/Scriptaculous pair regarded as the rails standard. I mean, who could blame me, with all those JavaScriptHelpers and fancy RJS templates to entice you. But, don’t get suckered it by these mere facades, as a result, your application may suffer. I’ll explain…

While programming some additions to my photo hosting application, 72photos, I found the need to add functionality that was particularity difficult to do in Prototype. I’ll spare you the actual details, but as a result of this conundrum, I turned to another Javascript framework, which was, what I believed was the enemy, until now…Mootools. Sure, I heard the hype surrounding mootools of late, however, my loyalty to Prototype/Scriptaculous clouded my judgment to explore it more throughly. When I decided to give a decent look through mootools documentation, I noticed it’s very elegant syntax and it surely made more sense in areas such as event handling.

Where am I going with this exactly? Well, If you’re currently loyal to one Javascript framework and it works for you, I’m not suggesting to break out of your current comfort zone. However, I wouldn’t suggest putting aside features or avoiding them because your framework doesn’t support what your trying to do or would take more time then desired to implement. There are other options and I advise you have a look around regardless. Theres no problem using 2 or even 3 separate frameworks in 1 application, surely you’ll have to watch out for incompatibilities, but theres always a workaround.

Personally, I love Ajax/Javascript, it gives life to what would otherwise be a stationary application. A word of advice…If you’re one who relies on RJS and JavascriptHelpers in rails, I highly recommend learning exactly what those helpers do and how to reproduce that particular code in pure javascript unobtrusively. You will benefit with such knowledge in future endeavors.