My co-worker Lisa McCade points me to Mootools, another Javascript framework. There are so many Javascript frameworks popping up that it is impossible to keep track of them all. I’ve been using Prototype, which is a bit like using crack to get an energy boost. Prototype makes it easy to do AJAX calls, but there are serious problems with the way Prototype’s inheritance system works.

Dojo, for instance, is very powerful. Shelley Powers, who knows more about Javascript than I ever will, has said good things about Dojo in her book. In particular: “Dojo really is a mastery of packaging and encapsulation.” However, on her blog, she recently said she was giving up the use of Dojo.

All the frameworks impose certain constraints, while making other things easier. I haven’t used Mootools yet, but I like that fact that it is so modular. It might be the best path forward for Javascript development are frameworks that you can use just small pieces of. I let you know more after I’ve given Mootools a test run.