What You Can Do With the New Dojo 0.9

Dojo, a popular toolkit, makes developing in JavaScript easier and faster. Previous versions of Dojo have been extremely useful, but the new Dojo 0.9 has made developing in JavaScript better than ever. Take a look at what others have done with this new version and explore some of the improvements that you’ll love the most. Apps Using 0.9 Dojo 0.9 was just released, but it’s already been used to create a few rich, very functional apps.

• Plaxo Pulse: Pulse takes Plaxo’s address book app one step farther. This new addition makes it easy for users to discover online content that’s created by friends and family.
• TinyBuddy: With TinyBuddy, users can get AOL instant messaging on the iPhone and other phone browsers.
• Bloglines Beta: This news aggregator used Dojo 0.9 for some of their new features in the beta version. Now, it has drag and drop functionality and feed management as well as a new unread system.

What’s New? Take a look at some of the new features and functionality that Dojo 0.9 brings to the table.

• No JavaScript sizing in widget code: Without this sizing, you’ll find that page load times are faster.
• Tundra theme: This theme is color neutral, so it should work with any site.
• New and enhanced widgets: Now, Dojo has a tooltip dialog, bubble tooltips and validation errors, and a slider with labels and tickmarks.
• Faster parsing: The parser is faster, especially on Firefox and Safari.
• Increased accessibility: The new Dojo has keyboard support, screen reader support, and high-contrast support.
• Popups and dropdowns: Now, any arbitrary widget can be used as a popup or dropdown without having to implement a special interface.
• Focus manager: The focus manager will track stacks of active widgets.
• New page parser: This new parser allows instances of any class, not just widgets.
• Reduced API surface area: With this reduced surface area, it’s easier to remember and use.
• Previously experimental features: Now, you’ll have portable 2D drawing, data wires, storage, cometd, and more.
• Compact base: Dojo’s new base is small and streamlined, so it’s faster than before.
• Customizable themes: Although the new Dojo ships with the color-neutral Tundra theme, you can make Dojo your own. It’s easy to personalize on a per-page, per-node, or per-widget basis.
• dojo.behavior: With dojo.behavior, not everything needs a widget, and you can use progressive enhancement. Additionally, JavaScript can be applied to CSS selectors.
• dojo.query: dojo.query accepts most CSS3 selectors and supports scoped queries. It’s comparable to jQuery and returns a “real” array. Plus, it’s really fast.
• dojo.js: Now, there’s only one dojo.js per version. You can build your own files or choose a set packaged version.
• New widget system: Dijit is its own package that features improvements on usability and performance.
• Scaled down code: Dojo wiped out about 30% of bloated code while retaining functionality.
• Backwards incompatibility: Because Dojo has cut bloated code, you’ll have to use a porting guide to move from 0.4 to 0.9.

The Bottom Line With 0.9, this toolkit is leaner and more powerful. You can use it to create highly functional apps with more ease of use than ever before. Be sure to check it out.

Tags: JavaScript