Steve, you make some good suggestions here. I appreciate the initiative in creating a new list, but the Prototype Core list (http:// groups.google.com/group/prototype-core) is probably a better place to discuss the library itself. It's of a slower pace (one that can accommodate discussions like these) and is a better solution than asking people to subscribe to a new list, in my opinion.
Cheers, Andrew On Jan 15, 9:05 pm, "s.ross" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Jan 15, 2008, at 5:03 PM, Andrew Dupont wrote: > > > > > Steve, > > > You've hit upon something that we're aware of on the Core team. I > > think jQuery is a fantastic framework, but that its success has as > > much to do with its evangelism (and the resulting ecosystem) as with > > the quality of the code itself. > > > We have ideas on how to foster this same type of community, but like > > most contributors to open-source software, we have day jobs, so > > there's never enough time to do as much as we'd like. Enthusiastic > > users like kangax help fill that void. Scripteka is still young; I > > know we have plans to highlight it on the Prototype blog. > > > Beyond the extension library, I know we'd like to do more to advance > > the *idea* of Prototype. We've talked about some sort of "pimp my > > code" thing, where we take good JavaScript and make it better, as a > > way to expose people to artful Prototype code idioms. (jQuery is > > really good at letting their code speak for them.) Soon there will be > > two books on the stands about Prototype 1.6. And several of us have > > plans (or are proposing) to speak at upcoming conferences like SXSW, > > RailsConf, and The Ajax Experience. > > > If anyone on this list has the enthusiasm to help out, or even some > > ideas on how we can get started in this area, then let's start talking > > about this on the prototype-core list. > > > Cheers, > > Andrew > > I have some bandwidth to help out but am not certain occupying space > on the general list is a great use of everyones' time. So, I've done > this: I created a new GoogleGroup called ror-spinoff-ecosystem > (http://groups.google.com/group/ror-spinoff-ecosystem?hl=en > ). Let me explain why I think this topic is of general interest/use. > > In my original post, I used jQuery as an example. I think they are a > good example of how a particular implementation catches fire. But this > isn't an us versus them type of thing. It's more about the untold > story. I have the bungee book (wonderful work!) and it goes some way > toward getting people oriented in the frameworks. However, I don't see > a couple of things that I believe were present in Rails from the start > and appear to be present in jQuery: > > - A clear "right way" to do something. Rails is opinionated software. > How many times have you heard that. Well Prototype isn't. Sometimes > the developer is left at sea with respect to the "Prototype" approach > to a given problem set. jQuery is much more specific about how they > expect their framework to be used. Start with the DOM and everything > else will fall into place. > > - An easily articulated extensibility story. Rails has had this since > day two. Once they put components behind them and moved to plugins, > Rails has had a ton of easy to install add-in functionality springing > up all around. jQuery, too, has a well-articulated plugin framework. > > - Stability story. This is a strength of Prototype and Scripty that > just doesn't get mentioned. This ain't new code -- it's battle tested > on some of the most heavily visited sites around. > > - Testing baked right in ... sort of. This is a strength of Rails and > with the test plugin, it is a strength of Prototype. There is, > however, little guidance regarding how to do this. Less for the non- > Rails developer. TDD and BDD are hot topics and I know it's something > the Core team considers. If this can be pushed out to the community it > will be (IMO) a strength. > > Anyhow, join the group, share your ideas, and post announcements for > extensions/plugins/enhancements. > > Steve --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Spinoffs" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-spinoffs?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
