What is Prototype?

[mkdigi]

Hello,

I've been looking for a job these last few weeks and I started hearing about "Prototype" as a language that some companies are using.

Has anyone ever heard of this? I've googled it in every way I know how and haven't found a thing about it.

[choster]

It's an AJAX framework. www.prototypejs.org

[mkdigi]

okay...good to know! Is it related to jQuery at all? During my interview I said that I asked them if they used jQuery and they said they use prototype instead...

Just wondering!

Thanks.
Mary

[choster]

jQuery and Prototype are two different frameworks. The one has nothing to do with the other, except that they are based on the same technology concepts.

[httpwebwitch]

I'd call prototype a *predecessor* to all the other JS frameworks, like Mootools, JQuery, and Dojo. It was (one of) the first, easily the best, and quickly gained popularity because of Scriptaculous, a suite of animation effects that used the Prototype framework.

IMO Prototype fell behind the others and hasn't caught up. JQuery and Mootools are clearly ahead in terms of functionality, optimization, flexibility, and popularity. Nevertheless, using Prototype adds a level of browser compatibility and flexibility that core JavaScript doesn't have. Many years ago when I reviewed all the JS frameworks (there weren't many), Prototype was leagues beyond the rest, by far the best there was. Today, I'd wholeheartedly endorse Mootools, with JQuery being my second choice.

If you already use JQuery, prototype will not be a challenge to learn.

Prototype offered a new release just this past September with a host of improved features. The inclusion of mixins and inheritance shows that it's evolving further in the same direction as Mootools; both are maturing as solid object-oriented frameworks.

[Justin billy]

In software development,
a prototype is a rudimentary working model of a product or information system, usually built for demonstration purposes or as part of the development process.