Make Your Site Script.aculo.us
Among different AJAX and JavaScript frameworks, Script.aculo.us (and Prototype) has been on the forefront of the Web 2.0 movement. Even though it is not a “one-stop-shop” AJAX commercial framework such as Backbase or IceFaces, it still delivers a lot of functionality, time-saving features, and amazing effects with a MIT license. This means that you can use it free of charge for anything you like (which includes commercial applications), but cannot remove the copyright remarks. As of this writing, the Script.aculo.us stable version is 1.6.5, but a beta 1.7 with new morphing effects has just been released. If you are a web developer, dealing with a lot of JavaScript code, and wondering how to add effect to your site, or want to join the Web 2.0 and AJAX movement, you need to give the Script.aculo.us framework a good look.
The framework is standards-compliant, and behind the scenes takes care of the browser compatibility issues for major supported browsers, which are Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Apple’s Safari. It is server technology agnostic and can easily integrate with these server technologies: Ruby On Rails, Perl, Nitro, PHP, Java, Plone, Pylons, DotNet, Symfony, Seaside, and OpenACS.
Installing Script.aculo.us Files
Because Script.aculo.us only consists of several JavaScript files, it has a very small footprint. The files need to be placed somewhere on the web server in the visible directory and then referenced in your code. I have installed the 1.7 version, under js/ext/s17 directory; therefore, my reference looks like this:
<script language="JavaScript"
type="text/javascript"
src="js/ext/s17/prototype.js"></script>
<script language="JavaScript"
type="text/javascript"
src="js/ext/s17/scriptaculous.js"></script>
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