Demo: Better Pull Quotes with the Dojo Toolkit

You will see dynamically generated pull quotes below. No content is repeated -- MooTools does all the work!

Let's have your take on this jQuery vs. MooTools debate. You know them both very well, so your opinion matters a little more than someone like me who uses jQuery primarily because it's the only one I know.

This is a very touchy subject for many people but I've always been blunt (to a fault sometimes) so I'll just shoot from the hip. Before I explain my position I'll disclose that I'm a Core Developer for the MooTools javascript framework.

The jQuery vs. MooTools debate is one that's oftentimes shrouded by extreme opinions, outright lies, and archaic myths. Unfortunately these views persist so my goal with the answer to this question is to bring everyone back down to earth and get people to set their emotions aside and think objectively about the two javascript frameworks. The same thoughts can apply to Dojo, Prototype, YUI, etc.

The biggest myth about these two frameworks is that the developers and the communities don't like each other. From my perspective, this couldn't be further from the truth. I've exchanged friendly emails with John Resig with regard to Sizzle, occasionally tweet jQuery's Karl Swedberg, and never hesitate to throw a friendly jab at Rey Bango when he jazzes me. Relations between our frameworks are in good standing.

Another myth about the jQuery vs. MooTools debate is that a designer/developer needs to pick one and stick with it. This couldn't be further from the truth and I contend doing so is outright foolishness. Since when was not knowing a programming language/framework a badge of honor? Imagine how many more options are available to a developer that knows both frameworks! I'd go so far as to say that any respectable designer/developer would try other frameworks at the very least. Learning jQuery made me love MooTools even more. To each his own.

The biggest difference between the two frameworks (for 90% of designers/developers, at least) is probably the different syntax. In the end it comes down to personal preference. As a "classically trained programmer", I much prefer MooTools' object-oriented approach to jQuery's structure. I prefer myElement.setStyle() better than myElement.css(). I prefer MooTools' var request = new Request({options}) to jQuery's $.ajax({options}). I would also argue MooTools is more modular but we could all go on all day about the different advantages each framework/library has. In the end, they're both outstanding codebases.

As a member of the MooTools Core Development team though, I have no reservations in saying that jQuery is a nice library. I admire the jQuery team's organization and the library's perceived easy learning curve. "jQuery" seems to be the biggest buzzword in javascript right now so cheers to the jQuery team and its community for cultivating that perception.

As a MooTools "insider", however, I'm excited for what the MooTools team will bring to the table during 2010. We'll be launching the Forge (our public plugin repository), releasing MooTools 2, continuing to grow MooTools More, featuring more community work, and much more. MooTools FTW!

In the end though, my advice is to make sure you try multiple javascript libraries and drop any negative misconceptions you may have about other javascript communities. You may end up liking one over the other, love your preferred framework even more, or simply bask in the knowledge that you know more than one.

I think Dojo's Peter Higgins says it best: It's just javascript!