My thoughts on the dojo Javascript library
I've been asked to take a look at the dojo javascript framework today. At first, I thought it was a Java framework for handling AJAX stuff on the client-side. To my surprise, it was only for Javascript alone. It's amazing how it could make your job easier as a developer. You almost always have to deal with the front-end stuff when you're involved in web development and for many developers who could not even design or be creative enough to create fancy stuff on the front-end, dojo is a real gift from heaven.
Three things I liked about dojo
1. The first thing I like is that I don't have to deal with the lo-level part of making an XmlHttpRequest. Everything is taken care of for me by dojo. From this point onward, I can be very creative on what I want to receive from the server.
2. Second, there are available widgets(through dijit) that you could use at your disposal. My two most favorite widgets are the Accordion Container and the Tab Container. Unfortunately for me, I don't have any idea(yet) how to make the tab container have some rounded edges rather than the pointed ones.
3. Last but not the least is the query engine which allows you to select a DOM node through a simple method call. Thin of how much time you can save with this tool!
Now, I'm not so used to using firebug or the dojo way of debugging javascript. When you load the dojo framework like the following:
[code language="Javascript"]
<script type="text/javascript" src="./dojo/dojo/dojo.js" djConfig="parseOnLoad: true"></script>
[/code]
It's quite a good idea to try and see if the dojo object is indeed loaded before you even start coding...
[code language="Javascript"]
<script type="text/javascript">
alert(dojo);
</script>
[/code]
Just make sure it contains an object value before you start coding