Tuesday, January 15th, 2008...7:21 am
jQuery or MooTools?
So, now that team digerati is a CodeIgniter dev shop, it is time to land the plane on a javascript framework. I feel like I need to go on record and remind most of you that when it comes to all this code stuff, framework talk, and blah, blah…I am clueless. I can learn lingo, dig in a little and learn more, but at the end of the day I listen to the experts. So, if I had to make a decision I would look at the logo and then look at the websites and make the decision.
Lets take a look…shall we?
MooTools
jQuery
Eh, personally, I am not a big fan of the MooTools logo. Don’t really like the font or the little wrench. jQuery on the other hand is clean, fresh and I like the colors. I vote jQuery!
Ok, jQuery 1 - MooTools 0.
So now lets look at their sites.
Typically I am a fan of the clean, lighter design…but I have to say that MooTools.net in my opinion hands down is a much better design, layout and overall site. However, I am not a fan of the .net vs .com; but…in an overwhelming landslide, MooTools.net site is much better than jQuery.com.
MooTools 1 - jQuery 1 - the tie breaker goes to MooTools because their site kicked jQuery’s butt.
Ok, by now I really hope you have picked up on my sarcasm and everything you have just read is a total joke. We (I) am not evaluating MooTools vs. jQuery by their logo and their website…but it would really make things a lot easier. We are however evaluating both. Reading a lot of websites, and paying a lot of attention to who uses what. And yes, there are many others out there, but we have already narrowed the field to these two.
This is the week to land the plane on this, so if you have an opinion, I would love to hear it. I have realized that MooTools has a much bigger following outside of the US…I kinda like that. Anyway, drop me a line or a comment.
I lead the digerati team at
11 Comments
January 15th, 2008 at 8:26 am
I think the tiebreaker should be closing your eyes, spinning, and randomly pointing at one…that would work well.
January 15th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Did you look at scriptaculous? If you have I was wondering why you are not considering it.
We have used it for the past couple of years and love it. I think all of those frameworks have all of the same functionality. The main thing I would look for is to make sure it sits on top of prototype framework.
January 16th, 2008 at 12:49 am
To Ryan, scriptaculous is awful. It is so bloated and slow. It was the first and is kinda nice for someone getting started, but I haven’t used it in well over two years.
I’m a huge fan of Mootools because of it’s OO approach. JQuery seems very linear to me with all of the dot notation. I know that it’s still OO, but I don’t like how they did it as much. I really like Mootool’s animations and other random effects. They look amazing.
Some people complain that Mootools is bigger than JQuery (personally I don’t care, everyone has broadband and a cpu than can handle a few extra k), but you should check out Mootool’s download page (http://mootools.net/download) you pick what you want so you don’t have to have extra stuff if you don’t want.
January 16th, 2008 at 1:36 am
Interesting.. well I guess you’d know my vote goes to JQuery, as I am not too familiar with Mootools. I had a quick browse of their documentation and I have to say that I like JQuery’s documentation better.
In terms of actually writing the code, I find JQuery a breeze to use, I especially love the ability to chain methods. Saves me alot of typing.
I have heard that Mootools is faster than JQuery, but JQuery has recently been updated to v1.2.2 and it claims to have gotten a 300% speed improvement. So I’m not too sure what the latest speed comparisons are.
Anyway that’s my 2 cents.
January 16th, 2008 at 8:40 am
This comparison might help a little bit:
“JavaScript Libraries By Comparison”:http://javascriptant.com/articles/24/javascript-libraries-by-comparison
January 16th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Oooh sorry that link got fouled up. Tried to do a Textile link. Maybe this one will:
JavaScript Libraries By Comparison
January 16th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Ryan, we did look at Prototype/scriptaculous. I personally think it is a really good option, but there were a few drawbacks that guided us to these 2 options. I would not echo Sam’s remark that it is “awful”… Sam let me remind you that Apple.com uses it. And I know your feelings about Apple.
Victor, good feedback. Thanks!
Andy, great article. I also liked this one:
http://blog.reindel.com/2007/10/30/how-to-choose-a-javascript-framework/
January 16th, 2008 at 10:20 am
I would agree with Sam that the scriptaculous javascript file is quite large. I personally have had good experience with it.
I look forward to seeing the new site Feb 1 and how your team implements the framework of choice throughout the new site.
Peace!
January 16th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Every framework has its strengths and weaknesses. I, for one, happen to be on the jQuery bandwagon. Every project I work on uses jQuery in one way or another. Personally I would either use jQuery or Mootools because I just despise the Prototype syntax. In fact, syntax is why I use jQuery - the object chaining makes things so easy and clean.
Both MooTools and jQuery have big communities with tons of support and loads of plugins. Plugins are a big part of the solution, so keep that in mind when choosing and look at http://www.AjaxRain.com for loads of plugins for all frameworks.
I Have not yet found a problem that couldnt be solved with jQuery and associated plugins and I dont think that I will. Check out my website to see just what a little jquery and one plugin can do.
January 16th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
My vote is jQuery. That’s what we use and I love it. The syntax works for me, especially given my roots in the world of CSS.
I must say that your choice probably depends more on your developer’s style than almost any other comment left here thus far. I’d tap your front-end and back-end fellows for the votes with a little more weight.
January 18th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Alright, alright, scriptaculous isn’t awful, but it’s definitely not a quick or small library. I started on prototype, which is pretty good. Most libraries are based on prototype core, so in a way, we still use prototype.
Leave a Reply