Best AJAX Framework

Question

In Asp.Net web forms, what is the best chioce for providing righ UI (a la Ajax)? I use the built-in Ajax support that MS delivers in addition to the Ajax Control Toolkit so far, but is there something better and / or easier?

Answer 1

jQuery is, well, zhiznit, IMHO. After I bought jQuery in action , I realized that it wouldn’t come back. There are a ton of ASP.NET developers (including those behind this site) who use it if you are trying to figure out how to swing quickly and roll.

I would look at the following blogs:

• Rick Strahl Magazine
  
• Ever talented Scott Guthrie mentioned Matt Berset
  
• And my personal favorite blog is Dave Ward Encosia . (I think this is his StackOverflow profile .)

However, of course, there are many other libraries. After all, I really like JS libraries because it often comes down to reusing code. Do not roll back the same JS functionality from scratch and again. In addition, most of these products viewed in the community have received more attention to the code than anything you roll (maybe).

With all that said, I also strongly recommend checking this framework:

• Ext js
  
• Mochikit
  
• Also check out Omar Al Zabir (founder of PageFlakes.com ) CodeProject article and his book for interesting things you can do with the ASP.NET AJAX Framework.

I believe Ext JS is out of the box with ColdFusion installations these days, but I was pleased with several .NET projects that I included in it too.

Answer 2

I was pleased with the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit .

Special:

• Accordion
• Calendar
• FilteredTextBox
• Maskededit
• Passwordstrength
• Tabs
• ValidatorCallout

However, this is actually not AJAX, but just client-side JavaScript.

ASP.NET UpdatePanel is real AJAX and works great out of the box.

Answer 3

I use javascript / jquery to send a web query request to the ASMX web service and get the data manually. There was a quick search and found this article - http://encosia.com/2008/03/27/using-jquery-to-consume-aspnet-json-web-services/

Answer 4

@Zack,

It is interesting. I would invert the definition and say that the material specifically designed to work with combined code on the client and server side is real AJAX, while UpdatePanel is "AJAH poor man."

@Chris,

There is something fundamental to brain change in jQuery. Even if you are not using it, you should at least take a look at it. Most frameworks feel "material created by OO developers without Javascript," while jQuery feels like it was developed by someone immersed in Javascript power.

Answer 5

Spry - while you have nothing against Adobe products - this is a very full-featured toolkit. Worth checking out.

Answer 6

JQuery for basic manipulations with the DOM and ExtJS for the user interface. You can't get any simpler than the jquery syntax for the chain, and the ExtJS component set is one of the largest, most comprehensive consistent component sets you can get, and is extensible. The site is a fantastic resource, with an API browser and some great examples, as well as a very active forum. In addition, I know that a book will be released in the near future.

Answer 7

I use YUI when I want to work with other programmers. It is well maintained, well documented, and well maintained. It's a bit on the verbose side, but I usually like it in group projects anyway (personal preference).

For the things that I code for myself and only for myself, with an eye on spikin: jQuery. It is fun, short and cute.

Answer 8

ExtJS is a very powerful full-featured JavaScript framework. We use it to extend standard .Net controls. We use Ajax.Net , a small free library for our asynchronous server calls.

Answer 9

@ Brad

I just started looking at jQuery. I especially like the aspect of community support (not that the ajax management toolkit doesn't have the same). Thank you for your confidence in this technology.

Answer 10

No doubt jQuery , from what I learned.

Check out jQuery UI

Answer 11

The answer depends on what features you are looking for. YUI (Yahoo Library) specializes in a truly rich user interface. If this is your main concern, it is definitely worth a look.

Answer 12

Your question is similar; "what is the most beautiful color there" ...;)

But I think most people agree that ASP.NET AJAX is YOUR bet ...

Everything is better than ASP.NET AJAX ...!

I would look at Ra-Ajax if I were you, but then again I am biased (work with him yourself - the founder actually)