Hello everyone, I'm writing to share my thoughts on the decision of including Prototype/script.aculo.us Javascript helpers by default on the Symfony package, as well as its promotion. This is just my point of view.
First of all, I think inline javascript code being output by the framework directly on the XHTML template is really a practice that in our current era of web development looks outdated to me. I won't dwell into the reasons of this, what I think is best explained here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unobtrusive_JavaScript . Of course, with the flexibility of Symfony, one can opt out of this practice and ignore the JavascriptHelper altogether. But I'm more concerned about Symfony shipping with an obsolete programming technique, as well as its propaganda on the site (http://www.symfony-project.org/tutorial/1_0/symfony-ajax ) and even on the homepage (easy ajax being the first button). One of the remarkable aspects of Symfony is all the great choices made by their creators in regards to programming patterns and modern techniques, and to me, this just doesn't fit in. Two counter-arguments will arise, though: - Those who defend this technique based on the possibility of rapid development/GTD/etc. - Those who still want support for their current deployments based on this technique. My answer to that is an officially supported Symfony plugin (just like sfGuardAuth) that includes the helpers, which has multiple benefits: - Firstly, the developer decides what JS framework empowers the Javascript Helper (another issue with the current one is that we call it JavascriptHelper as if Prototype/Script.aculo.us and Javascript were synonyms). This would be possible through the creation of several plugins (sfMootoolsJavascript, sfJqueryJavascript) which define the Javascript helper. - Secondly, it's easy for the developer to choose whether or not to upgrade prototype (for example), by picking the right plugin version. Right now not only are they 'forced' to use prototype, but I'm sure they're often stuck with the version shipped with Symfony. And upgrading prototype/script.aculo.us many times means upgrading the helper (which, as a matter of fact, is impossible right now without creating your own helper and rewriting the functions by yourself) So basically that's my view of how JS support can be taken to a next level, possibly for 1.2. Let me know what you think Guillermo Rauch http://devthought.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "symfony developers" 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/symfony-devs?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
