Prototype, MooTools and Scriptacoulus

[eluser]matthewr[/eluser]
Ok, I haven't really delved into the world of JavaScript that much yet. I've basically just used pre-packaged JS solutions like LightView and stuff. But out of curiousity. What is the main difference between the three?? Which do you think is better?

[eluser]Nick Husher[/eluser]
There was a thread on the various JS libraries out there and their strengths and weaknesses, as well as a good number of comments discussing the merits of each scattered about. You're also forgetting about JQuery and YUI.

[eluser]Pascal Kriete[/eluser]
As Nick said, there was a stickied thread to prevent this coming up ever other week. Here's a quick review.

Jquery - Excellent framework for the everyday stuff. Lightweight, fast, easy to learn.
Prototype - Very in-depth framework, no native effects. Good for projects with lots of custom javascript. Great documentation.
Scriptaculous - Essentially an effects addon for prototype. I've had trouble with this one recently.
YUI - Very strong framework with everything you'll ever need and more. Steep learning curve for a beginner as it requires good knowledge of javascript.
Mootools - Syntax is simliar to protoype, with great effects. I just started using this and love it. However, he documentation is very unclear if you've never used a framework.

The bottom line:
If you've never done javascript and don't have any special needs, go with JQuery. If you plan on writing lots of javascript, go with YUI or Prototype.
My personal route was YUI -> prototype/scriptaculous -> jquery -> mootools. Looking back: Don't start with YUI. Prototype has the best docs, but scriptaculous needs work. Jquery was great, but coming from yui and prototype, the syntax just didn't appeal to me. I'm staying with moo for now.

[eluser]Tom Glover[/eluser]
If you want to use MooTools, I am in the process of building a library that will easily integrates CI with MooTools, it will allow you to call Ajax and other functions through simple single lines of code. Have a look at Here for more info.

[eluser]Derek Allard[/eluser]
I "unstickied" it after we announced that CodeIgniter would support jQuery "natively". I've never worked with YUI, but I've done the others, and of them all, my favourite by far is jQuery. It just keeps on impressing me.

[eluser]usmc[/eluser]
I can't stand the likes of mootools and prototype. They both append methods to existing JSON objects thus destroying their integrity. What you end up with is a mess. At least YUI understands the concept of proper object management and namespacing. A nice companion to YUI is YUI tools located here: http://blog.davglass.com/files/yui/tools/

[eluser]Aea[/eluser]
[quote author="Derek Allard" date="1206404666"]I "unstickied" it after we announced that CodeIgniter would support jQuery "natively".[/quote]

Please elaborate, I couldn't seem to find this post through a search. I am both intrigued and concerned over how something like this would be implemented. I am a big fan of jQuery, but when you start mixing javascript with a PHP Framework, the outcome may be a bit less then optimal. But I'm sure the CI team can make it work

[eluser]matthewr[/eluser]
Cool! Is jQuery integrated into CI yet or is it coming in the next CI release?

[eluser]Derek Allard[/eluser]
We haven't released too many details, but what I have released is at http://www.derekallard.com/blog/post/exp...deignited/.

edit: While that link does indeed discuss this, I meant to link to http://ellislab.com/blog/entry/expressio...deignited/.