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MooTools

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MooTools
Developer(s)The MooTools Dev Team
Initial releaseMarch 7, 2007; 17 years ago (2007-03-07)[1]
Stable release
1.6.0 / January 14, 2016; 8 years ago (2016-01-14)[2]
Repository
Written inJavaScript
TypeAjax framework / JavaScript Framework
LicenseMIT License
Websitemootools.net

MooTools (My Object-Oriented Tools)[3] is a lightweight, object-oriented JavaScript framework. It is released under the free, open-source MIT License.[4]

History

Valerio Proietti first authored the framework and released it in September 2006[5] taking as his inspiration Prototype and Dean Edward's base2. MooTools originated from Moo.fx, a popular JavaScript effects library released in October 2005 by Valerio Proietti as an add-on to the Prototype Javascript Framework.[6] which is still maintained and used. It can be used as a lighter alternative to script.aculo.us or other, bigger libraries. It provides simple, basic effects, and guarantees a small library size.

Whereas Prototype extended—prototyped—many of JavaScript's native String, Array, and Function objects with additional methods, Proietti desired a framework that (at the time)[7] further extended the native Element object as well[5] to offer greater control of the Document Object Model (DOM).[8]

Components

MooTools includes a number of components, but not all need to be loaded for each application. Some of the component categories are:

  • Core: A collection of utility functions that all the other components require.[9]
  • More: An official collection of add-ons that extend the Core and provide enhanced functionality.[10]
  • Class: The base library for Class object instantiation.[11]
  • Natives: A collection of JavaScript Native Object enhancements. The Natives add functionality, compatibility, and new methods that simplify coding.
  • Element: Contains a large number of enhancements and compatibility standardization to the HTML Element object.[12]
  • Fx: An advanced effects-API to animate page elements.[13]
  • Request: Includes XHR interface, Cookie, JSON, and HTML retrieval-specific tools for developers to exploit.[14]
  • Window: Provides a cross-browser interface to client-specific information, such as the dimensions of the window.[15]

Browser compatibility

MooTools is compatible and tested with:[16]

Benefits

MooTools provides the user with a number of advantages over native JavaScript. These include:

  • An extensible and modular framework allowing developers to choose their own customized combination of components.[17]
  • MooTools follows object-oriented practices and the DRY principle.[18]
  • An advanced effects component, with optimized transitions such as easing equations used by many Flash developers.[19]
  • Enhancements to the DOM, enabling developers to easily add, modify, select, and delete DOM elements. Storing and retrieving information with Element storage is also supported.[20]

The framework includes built-in functions for manipulation of CSS, DOM elements, native JavaScript objects, Ajax requests, DOM effects, and more. MooTools also provides a detailed, coherent application programming interface (API)[21] as well as a custom downloads module allowing developers to download only the modules and dependencies they need for a particular app.[22][23]

Emphasis on modularity and reusability

Every JavaScript framework has its philosophy, and MooTools is interested in taking full advantage of the flexibility and power of JavaScript in a way that emphasizes greater modularity and code reuse. MooTools accomplishes these goals in a way that is intuitive to a developer coming from a class-based inheritance language like Java with the MooTools Class object.

Class is an object of key/value pairs that can contain either properties or methods (functions). Class is effortlessly mixed and extended with other Class instantiations allowing for the greatest focus of MooTools: Code reuse achieved through maximizing the power of JavaScript's prototypical inheritance, but in a Class object syntax more familiar to classical inheritance models.[24]

Object-oriented programming

MooTools contains a robust Class creation and inheritance system that resembles most classically based Object-oriented programming languages. For example, the following is MooTools' equivalent of the examples in Wikipedia's polymorphism page: 

var Animal = new Class({

    initialize: function(name) {
        this.name = name;
    }

});

var Cat = new Class({
    Extends: Animal,

    talk: function() {
        return 'Meow!';
    }

});

var Dog = new Class({

    Extends: Animal,

    talk: function() {
        return 'Arf! Arf!';
    }

});

var animals = {
    a: new Cat('Missy'),
    b: new Cat('Mr. Bojangles'),
    c: new Dog('Lassie')
};

Object.each(animals, function(animal) {
    alert(animal.name + ': ' + animal.talk());
});
 
// alerts the following:
//
// Missy: Meow!
// Mr. Bojangles: Meow!
// Lassie: Arf! Arf!

See also

References

  1. ^ Earliest known release
  2. ^ https://github.com/mootools/mootools-core/releases/tag/1.6.0
  3. ^ MooTools at FOSDEM slides
  4. ^ The Official MooTools Website
  5. ^ a b Newton, Aaron (September 18, 2008). MooTools Essentials: The Official MooTools Reference for JavaScript and Ajax Development (1st ed.). Apress. pp. xvi. ISBN 1-4302-0983-6.
  6. ^ Newton, Aaron (September 18, 2008). MooTools Essentials: The Official MooTools Reference for JavaScript and Ajax Development (1st ed.). Apress. pp. xv. ISBN 1-4302-0983-6.
  7. ^ Version 1.6.1 of Prototype includes "an element metadata storage system." Prototype 1.6.1 released by Sam Stephenson, written September 1st, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
  8. ^ Note that MooTools does not extend the native Object—all JavaScript primitives like String and Function inherit from it—but instead provides a convenient Hash for the purpose: Think of it like having a set of utility methods that allow for nearly effortless object manipulation of regular JavaScript objects that are otherwise unaffected by the process. (Newton, Aaron (September 18, 2008). MooTools Essentials: The Official MooTools Reference for JavaScript and Ajax Development (1st ed.). Apress. pp. xvi. ISBN 1-4302-0983-6.)
  9. ^ MooTools Core
  10. ^ MooTools More
  11. ^ MooTools Class
  12. ^ MooTools Element
  13. ^ MooTools Fx Class
  14. ^ MooTools Request Class
  15. ^ In addition to getting the size for any Element, you can easily get the dimensions of the window
  16. ^ MooTools lists its compatibility on its homepage.
  17. ^ MooTools' Core Download Page
  18. ^ MooTools Class Object
  19. ^ MooTools' Effects (FX) Class
  20. ^ MooTools' Element Class - A comprehensive list of Element manipulation methods.
  21. ^ ,A Better Way to Use Elements
  22. ^ MooTools Core Builder
  23. ^ MooTools More Builder
  24. ^ jQuery versus Mootools

Further reading

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