Originally built as an extension of YUI, Ext JS is a cross-browser JavaScript library for building rich Internet applications (RIA) using techniques such as AJAX, DHTML and DOM scripting.
A co-worker recently showed off a small sampling of what he’s done with Ext JS. Very simply, the framework blew my socks off. If, like me, you believe you can sell anything if it has nice enough packaging, you want to review Ext JS customizable UI widgets and extensible component model. My interest was piqued by merely clicking through the extensive set of online samples. Some of the sample border on ridiculously cool. Anyway, you be the judge.
Though I don’t have any hands-on experience with the framework, I understand the API is intuitive and well documented. A better-than-average understanding of JavaScript (functions are objects, etc) is beneficial but not required. Ext JS can use many different base libraries or adapters (e.g. YUI, jQuery, Prototype) or it can work standalone. So, experience other existing libraries can be a big plus.
The only negative information I have heard about Ext JS is related to their license history. Apparently, the licensing situation used to be difficult to understand which caused at least one developer I know to shy away from the framework. As of April 2008, however, licensing terms have been clarified by being dual-licensed with options of the GPL 3.0 license or commercial license.
Have a look and let me know what you think.
Ext JS is awesome! Great post.