Clarification on JS libraries

Hey, just wondering which JS libraries are implemented and where... I see mootools definitely referenced for the quickedit frontend, but also see scriptaculous listed in the ajax overview. At this point it doesn’t look like jquery is included in the base but I see references to it in 3rd party pieces and forum posts.

So yeah, which library(ies) is(are) used in MODx by default?

Mootools is used predominantly in 0.9.6, Scriptaculous was used in previous releases but has been all but phased out (although it’s used in a few places still - DocManager module is one I can think of, which reminds me I must get that updated )

Mootools is used in the core-distributed snippets, for example QuickEdit and AjaxSearch, and in a number of places within the MODx Manager.

The MODx 0.9.7 release will see Ext (www.extjs.com) being used as the only JS library in the core. By that time, both Mootools and Scriptaculous will have been completely removed from the core distribution.

jQuery, as you mention, isn’t distributed as part of the core but has been used in some third-party resources - one of the advantages being that it has the noConflict mode that ensures it doesn’t get messed up with the other JS libraries included at the moment.

Thanks, that’s exactly what I needed to know. I didn’t really want to spend time getting familiar with anything I didn’t have to, so I’ll just stick to jQuery for my front end stuffs and start checking out extjs for when 0.9.7 comes out.

Speaking of which... is there a rough time frame that 0.9.7 is targeted for? I know it is likely "when it’s ready", but I’m brand new to this project (was looking at ExpressionEngine up to a couple days ago) so even a broad ballpark of where things are at would be appreciated

Also, you may want to consider changing your MODx features blurb at http://www.modxcms.com/features.html to reflect that scriptaculous is not where the AJAX goodness is coming from.

Thanks again, looking forward to digging in to MODx and glad I came across it before I fully committed to EE

@spazzwig:
First of all, welcome to the community.

Now, to provide further clarification on futures...
Quote from: garryn at Oct 23, 2007, 06:37 AM

The MODx 0.9.7 release will see Ext (www.extjs.com) being used as the only JS library in the core. By that time, both Mootools and Scriptaculous will have been completely removed from the core distribution.

The default MODx 0.9.7 manager will be utilizing Ext; but the end-goal is to be able to take advantage of any of the major javascript frameworks for any interface you want to construct to communicate with the 0.9.7 core, be it a custom manager interface, or just a front-end web-site. This dependency is being isolated to the manager interface as completely as possible. I only bring this up to stress my vision of avoiding any long-term dependencies on specific JavaScript frameworks, or any third-part libraries for that matter, in the MODx core itself.

Quote from: spazzwig at Oct 23, 2007, 11:50 PM

Speaking of which... is there a rough time frame that 0.9.7 is targeted for? I know it is likely "when it’s ready", but I’m brand new to this project (was looking at ExpressionEngine up to a couple days ago) so even a broad ballpark of where things are at would be appreciated

Also, you may want to consider changing your MODx features blurb at http://www.modxcms.com/features.html to reflect that scriptaculous is not where the AJAX goodness is coming from.

We are preparing a complete redesign of the MODx website to coincide with the release of 0.9.7. However, since we are a volunteer army, and must do work to pay the bills first, we do not follow any strict release deadlines, and my previous attempts to estimate release of this effort to the community have proven to be painfully optimistic. But I will say that we are approaching production deployment of a critical client project that is being developed with this codebase and that contributor momentum has been increasing recently. I suspect we’ll have public beta releases ready long before December is here.

Quote from: spazzwig at Oct 23, 2007, 11:50 PM

Also, you may want to consider changing your MODx features blurb at http://www.modxcms.com/features.html to reflect that scriptaculous is not where the AJAX goodness is coming from.

Done.

Quote from: OpenGeek at Oct 24, 2007, 12:53 AM

@spazzwig:
First of all, welcome to the community.

Thanks

Quote from: OpenGeek at Oct 24, 2007, 12:53 AM

The default MODx 0.9.7 manager will be utilizing Ext; but the end-goal is to be able to take advantage of any of the major javascript frameworks for any interface you want to construct to communicate with the 0.9.7 core, be it a custom manager interface, or just a front-end web-site. This dependency is being isolated to the manager interface as completely as possible. I only bring this up to stress my vision of avoiding any long-term dependencies on specific JavaScript frameworks, or any third-part libraries for that matter, in the MODx core itself.

Fantastic, very happy to hear this. One of the biggest things (aside from the great capabilities already in play) that drew me to this project is what I’ve seen of the MODx design philosophy and the energy of the community here.

Quote from: OpenGeek at Oct 24, 2007, 12:53 AM

We are preparing a complete redesign of the MODx website to coincide with the release of 0.9.7. However, since we are a volunteer army, and must do work to pay the bills first, we do not follow any strict release deadlines, and my previous attempts to estimate release of this effort to the community have proven to be painfully optimistic. But I will say that we are approaching production deployment of a critical client project that is being developed with this codebase and that contributor momentum has been increasing recently. I suspect we’ll have public beta releases ready long before December is here.

Cool, thanks for giving me something to get my bearings with. Better than I was expecting too