Which Javascript frameworks are the most common and why ?

The frameworks i looked for this article were Prototype, JQuery, MooTools, Yahoo! UI Library, Dojo, ExtJS and MochiKit.

Prototype

Prototype is one of the earlier Javascript frameworks.Of the websites in this test, a total of 13 used the Prototype framework.

• CNN
• The New York Times
• Digg
• Apple
• Veoh.com
• TypePad
• Fox News Channel
• Finetune
• iLike
• Last.fm
• Twitter
• Hakia
• YouSendIt

JQuery

JQuery is a framework that has received a lot of attention due to its speed, size and smart modular approach which has led to a big library of plugins. Of the websites in this test, 11 used the JQuery framework.

• Digg
• BBC
• Major League Baseball
• Dell
• IsoHunt
• Break.com
• TinyPic
• FixMyMovie
• eMusic
• Kayak
• Box.net
• code.google.com

MooTools

Just like other Javascript frameworks, MooTools contains several functions to help development. One of the more known ones is its advanced effects component. Of the websites in this test, four used the MooTools frameworks.

• Mint
• Worth1000
• Bebo
• Vimeo
• Main
• Pingdom
• Outages
• Guest posts

Yahoo! UI Library (YUI)

Yahoo has developed its own Javascript framework. They use it for their own websites, but have also made it freely available to others. Of the websites in this test, seven used the Yahoo! UI Library.

• Yahoo! Shopping
• Zillow
• Bebo
• YouSendIt
• ImageShack
• LinkedIn
• Walmart.com

The ones using more than one framework were Digg (Prototype and JQuery), Bebo (MooTools and YUI) and YouSendIt (Prototype and YUI).

Prototype turned out to be the most-used framework in this survey, and of course it takes cake but JQuery not far behind. Please see following links regarding who is best.

http://blog.solnic.eu/2007/11/11/jquery-vs-prototype-part-i

http://blog.solnic.eu/2008/2/3/jquery-vs-prototype-part-ii

finally i must say that Jquery and prototype are both great libraries. I think now jQuery's philosophy (type less, do more, keeping things intuitive and unobtrusive) will make a big difference.

size is always a concern. Most important is speed :) and again prototype got success here.
we can get it as a 14.4kb gzipped version file.

http://groups.google.com/group/prototype-core/browse_thread/thread/ef05ede819727d52
http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/prototype/1.6.0.3/prototype.js
http://groups.google.com/group/prototype-core

but at last we can not close eyes. i think now Jquery is really starting to overtake prototype and prototype is losing ground. No matter how great of a library is, with the current strategy , this fantastic lib will not survive.prototype should have components not a whole lot but atleast a few basic ones like jquery’s tabs, accordion ect.. i request to prototype dev team to do something about it because people are starting to get woried !!!