jQuery, Web Application Framework?

Question

For the longest time I've used jQuery to hack together web sites. Now I'm interested in making a web application (one page load for the entire site to function, like Gmail).

Are there any jQuery Frameworks or practices that I can leverage to build my application so I don't have to recreate the wheel, or hack something together as I go?

Thanks

Answer 1

One of the (not so) many options is JavascriptMVC, which is pretty cool and I've used it for one midium-size project.

It's website is pretty discouraging, but give it a chance and watch the video. One possitive aspect is that it's creator always answers really fast in JMVC's google group.

But, actually, if I had to remake the project I mentioned, I would not use it, as jQuery provides (almost) all JMVC's functionality, you just have to get used to it. For an example in how to handle big apps with jQuery, I would recommend you to watch this video between others of Alex Sexton and other members of the yayQuery podcast.

Answer 2

I honestly don't know how someone could say jQuery provides almost all of JMVC's functionality. Yes, you can do a lot of similar things with jQuery, but you would have to write it an maintain it yourself.

Here's a quick list of what JavaScriptMVC provides that jQuery does not: (read more of them at http://jupiterjs.com/news/javascriptmvc-features)

• Dependency Management
• Building / Compression
• Logging
• Organized Folder Structures
• Package Management
• Code Cleaning
• Functional Testing
• Client Side Templates
• A bunch of delegatable special events (drag-drop, hover, resize, etc)
• A bunch of dom utilities
• Language Extensions
• An awesome widget factory
• Documentation