SproutCore

SproutCore

Developer(s)	Strobe Inc., Sproutit, Apple Inc. and community.
Initial release	2010 (2010)
Stable release	1.6 / June 9, 2011 (2011-06-09)
Development status	Active
Written in	Ruby/JavaScript
Operating system	Cross-platform
License	MIT License
Website	www.sproutcore.com

SproutCore is an open-source JavaScript framework. Its goal is to allow developers to create web applications with advanced capabilities and a user experience comparable to that of desktop applications. When developing a SproutCore application, all code is written in JavaScript. SproutCore, initially created in 2007 by Sproutit as the basis for their Mailroom application, is available under the MIT License.

Apple announced MobileMe at WWDC in 2008, noting that much of it was built using SproutCore. Apple has contributed greatly to the project as part of a Web 2.0 initiative. SproutCore is also used at iWork.com, the online extension of the iWork productivity software by Apple.

The latest major stable SproutCore release is 1.6, released on June 6 2011, was largely a bugfix release, building on the previous 1.5 release. SproutCore 1.5 contained significant updates to view layers, added a new CSS parser that builds off of SCSS, WAI-ARIA Support, Modular Loading, and additional features. The previous major release, SproutCore 1.4, included touch support for mobile devices, released on September 20 2010.

In May 2011, the SproutCore team announced SproutCore 2.0, a rebuilt version of the framework designed to expose the MVC underpinnings without requiring developers to use the included widget set. The team also emphasized the importance of reducing file size to support developing applications for mobile devices.

In July 2011, a new project, SproutCore UI, was announced. SproutCore UI is designed to provide common user interface elements for developers targeting mobile devices.

In June 2010, the creator of SproutCore, Charles Jolley, left Apple to start Strobe Inc., which provides SproutCore support and continues development. In November 2011 Facebook acquired the Strobe team in a deal Facebook described as a talent acquisition.

In December 2011, the SproutCore 2.0 framework was renamed to Ember.js, to reduce confusion between the application framework and the widget library of SproutCore 1.0.

References

• "Apple adopting SproutCore for web applications". Macrumors. 2008-06-16. http://www.macrumors.com/2008/06/16/apple-adopting-sproutcore-for-web-applications. 
• "Apple's open secret: SproutCore is Cocoa for the web". Appleinsider. 2008-06-16. http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/06/16/apples_open_secret_sproutcore_is_cocoa_for_the_web.html. 
• "Want to try out Apple's MobileMe? Check out SproutCore". Techcrunch. 2008-06-09. http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/09/want-to-try-out-mobileme-check-out-sproutcore/. 
• "Cocoa for Windows+Flash killer=SproutCore". Roughly Drafted. 2008-06-14. http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/06/14/cocoa-for-windows-flash-killer-sproutcore/. 

External links

• Sproutcore.com homepage
• Strobe Inc. homepage
• SproutCore Wiki
• SproutCore source code
• an Introduction to SproutCore, discussing desktop vs. browser development, key/value observeration, data bindings, demos, SproutCore features and API, and example SproutCore apps. 2009-12-30
• ListenApp. Web application done with SproutCore 1.0
• Tasks. Tasks management app done with SproutCore 1.0 (login as 'guest' no password)
• Lebowski Framework - A test automation framework for SproutCore
• itsgotwhatplantscrave.com - A SproutCore focused blog
• frozencanuck.wordpress.com - Another SproutCore focused blog
• Nextfinity DevBlog - A SproutCore blog focused on real-world examples