MooTools provides the user with a number of options beyond native JavaScript. These include:
An extensible and modular framework allowing developers to choose their own customized combination of components.[6]
MooTools follows object-oriented practices and the DRY principle.[7]
An advanced effects component, with optimized transitions such as easing equations used by many Flash developers.[8]
Enhancements to the DOM, enabling developers to easily add, modify, select, and delete DOM elements. Storing and retrieving information with Element storage is also supported.[9]
The framework includes built-in functions for manipulation of CSS, DOM elements, native JavaScript objects, Ajax requests, DOM effects, and more. MooTools also provides a detailed, coherent application programming interface (API),[10] as well as a custom downloads module allowing developers to download only the modules and dependencies they need for a particular app.[11][12]
History
Valerio Proietti first authored the framework and released it in September 2006[13] taking as his inspiration Prototype and Dean Edward's base2. MooTools originated from Moo.fx, a popular JavaScript effects library released in October 2005 by Valerio Proietti as an add-on to the Prototype Javascript Framework.[14] It can be used as a lighter alternative to script.aculo.us or other, bigger libraries. It provides simple, basic effects, and guarantees a small library size.
Whereas Prototype extended—prototyped—many of JavaScript's native String, Array, and Function objects with additional methods, Proietti desired a framework that (at the time)[15] further extended the native Element object as well[13] to offer greater control of the Document Object Model (DOM).[16]
Components
MooTools includes a number of components, but not all need to be loaded for each application. Some of the component categories are:
Core: A collection of utility functions that all the other components require.[17]
More: An official collection of add-ons that extend the Core and provide enhanced functionality.[18]
Class: The base library for Class object instantiation.[19]
Natives: A collection of JavaScript Native Object enhancements. The Natives add functionality, compatibility, and new methods that simplify coding.
Element: Contains a large number of enhancements and compatibility standardization to the HTML Element object.[20]
Fx: An advanced effects-API to animate page elements.[21]
Request: Includes XHR interface, Cookie, JSON, and HTML retrieval-specific tools for developers to exploit.[22]
Window: Provides a cross-browser interface to client-specific information, such as the dimensions of the window.[23]
Every JavaScript framework has its philosophy, and MooTools is interested in taking full advantage of the flexibility and power of JavaScript in a way that emphasizes greater modularity and code reuse. MooTools accomplishes these goals intuitively to a developer coming from a class-based inheritance language like Java with the MooTools Class object.
Class is an object of key/value pairs containing either properties or methods (functions). Class is effortlessly mixed and extended with other Class instantiations allowing for the most excellent focus of MooTools: Code reuse achieved through maximizing the power of JavaScript's prototypical inheritance but in a Class object syntax more familiar to classical inheritance models.[25]
Object-oriented programming
MooTools contains a robust Class creation and inheritance system that resembles most classically based Object-oriented programming languages. For example, the following is MooTools' equivalent of the examples in Wikipedia's polymorphism page:
varAnimal=newClass({initialize:function(name){this.name=name;}});varCat=newClass({Extends:Animal,talk:function(){return'Meow!';}});varDog=newClass({Extends:Animal,talk:function(){return'Arf! Arf!';}});varanimals={a:newCat('Missy'),b:newCat('Mr. Bojangles'),c:newDog('Lassie')};Object.each(animals,function(animal){alert(animal.name+': '+animal.talk());});// alerts the following://// Missy: Meow!// Mr. Bojangles: Meow!// Lassie: Arf! Arf!
^Version 1.6.1 of Prototype includes "an element metadata storage system." Prototype 1.6.1 releasedArchived 2010-03-01 at archive.today
by Sam Stephenson, written September 1st, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
^Note that MooTools does not extend the native Object—all JavaScript primitives like String and Function inherit from it—but instead provides a convenient Hash for the purpose: Think of it like having a set of utility methods that allow for nearly effortless object manipulation of regular JavaScript objects that are otherwise unaffected by the process. (Newton, Aaron (September 18, 2008). MooTools Essentials: The Official MooTools Reference for JavaScript and Ajax Development (1st ed.). Apress. pp. xvi. ISBN978-1-4302-0983-6.)