Preserved Topic: Javascript API

Hi, I've been looking (lurking ?) at this Javascript forum for some time now. Unlike most other forums, this one seems to be pooled from a collection of people more interested in Photoshop etc (and who wouldn't be, thats one sassy application) and who have limited Javascript knowledge (please, no disrespect intended). I am currently using a new Javascript API. Totally cross browser, totally open sourced and bundled with a wealth of 'widgits' e.g. scroll panes, customisable table widgits etc. This is a web resource that enables non programmers to produce snazzy, cross browser code in hours (even Mozilla !)... no more

if (netscape) { ... }
else if (IE) { ... }

statements to deal with... they have already been coded for you.

I have already pointed a few people on this site to the API and have had no unfavorable revews back yet - testament to it's power and simplicity.

Additionally, I have produced a beta site using the API. It took only 4 weeks to code from scratch and that included the time it took to teach myself the finer points of the new API. Without the API, the site would have taken months, thats if I could ever have coded it at all.

Anyway, enough of my blatent spamming... (can you spam a free resource ?)

Here's the links...

Dan Steinmans DynAPI version 2 links

Where to pull the latest code. http://sourceforge.net/project/filelist.php?group_id=5757

Where to find great tutorials on the API and view a web interface constructed using the API http://www.dynamic-core.net

A beta page Im currently doing using the API http://brianmcallister.masamba.com
(A totally customisable, on-line curriculum vitae application will be posted tonight at some point. I'll place a notification on the site review forum)

A great dynamic table widgit constructed using the new API (available for download with the widgit pack on sourceforge) www.andersen-touristik.com

Have a look, Im sure you will be glad you did.

Thanks for reading !

Huh? API? Whassat? Advanced Phallic Interference or something like that? I know diddly about Javavscript, but there are some really good stuff flying around here, go look back through the archives.




What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine to - First Rule of a Dictatorship

Ummmm, I've had a look at the archives but even with all the past scripts/tips that have been posted, the 'scriptor' is still left with the problem of having to write cross browser code.. not so with the DynAPI e.g.

Here are some example commands from the api, they create a square div (30,30), move it to position 100,100, change the background color, give it an animated background image and then slide's the div to 500,500 and finally, clips the viewable area by 20 pixels on the right hand side... not bad for 7 measly lines of code !!! If you were attempting to code the same cross-browser functionality without the API it would take forever (and require absolute knowledge of the various browser incompatabilities)

myObj=new DynLayer()
myObj.setSize(30,30)
myObj.moveTo(100,100)
myObj.setBgColor('#ffffff')
myObj.setBgImage('./someImage.gif')
myObj.slideTo(500,500)
myObj.setClip([0,0,20,0])

Yes I have seen and played a lot with the DynAPI. it is a very effective tool however you are not doing or learning anthing by using this, Dan Steinman has done all the work. Simply utilizing this API is not always going to work for all applications and indeed adds uneccessary page weight to pages that may be better served by less code. Ultimately this is a great DHTML resource but you may be doing yourself an injustice by using this and not learning how to code on your own.


Walking the Earth like Kane

Yep, I agree myself in parts. Using the API can mean that some people don't grasp the crossbrowser basics... but... really, if somebody cannot be bothered to deconstruct the API code then perhaps their missing the point.

Personally, I knew quite a bit of Javascript before stumbling across the API but have still managed to smooth off my cross-browser 'rough edges' by rooting through the API code. The new API in itself is a great tutorial on Javascript object creation and inheritance.

It also makes the web more accessable than ever before; especially to non-Javascript gurus. It enables them to produce visually appealing results in much less time than normal. Truely interested parties will be curious enough look beyond the functionality and into the code.

Again, it's true the API can take up additional bandwidth on the download but the core API is only 36k large - much smaller than most badly created and optimised images. I think people's main problem when utilising the API is that they attempt to cram each web page they create with all manner of glitzy API widgits in a fit of design overkill (Even my hands are up - guilty)

Well your honor.. thats the case for the defense.