Prototype and Scriptaculous in Action

Prototype and Scriptaculous are libraries that extend standard Ajax. They make it easier to program Ajax and provide powerful features like drag and drop and animation. In this book, developers learn by playing and see how the libraries work in the real world.

As experience with Ajax increases, developers want the standard Ajax capabilities they repeatedly use to be preprogrammed for them--and that's exactly what Ajax libraries do for them. They reduce the pain of handling cross-browser inconsistencies, they add useful language features, and provide sophisticated functionality. Of these, Prototype is the most popular JavaScript and Ajax framework for low-level user interface features such as animation, drag and drop, and pre-built widgets. Together, they free the developer up to concentrate on building the application. They make a rich user experience easy to achieve.

This book guides the reader through the Prototype and Scriptaculous libraries feature-by-feature. In just 350 pages, readers will find over 100 small working examples to help them explore the libraries. As well, they will develop a web-based image gallery that teacher them how to use Prototype and Scriptaculous in the real-world.

Dave Crane is an Ajax authority and lead author of the best-selling Ajax in Action. He is currently senior developer for UK-based Historic Futures Ltd., developing the next generation of socially responsible supply-chain systems using Ajax to link rural cooperatives and multinational corporations.

Bear Bibeault is a web developer and coauthor of Ajax in Practice, Prototype and Scriptaculous in Action, and jQuery in Action from Manning Publications.

Tom Locke is a UK-based independent web developer and trainer specializing in Ruby on Rails. He is the creator of Logix, a multi-language programming system, and the CTO of LiveLogix.