Open Source Resources for Web Application Developers

Many of us start every HTML project with the same set of HTML and CSS files. We’ve been using these files for a long time. Now that modern browsers are starting to support some of the really useful parts of HTML5 and CSS3, it’s time for our best practices to catch up.

HTML5 Reset is a simple set of best practices to get web projects off on the right foot. It includes A style sheet designed to strip initial files from browsers, Analytics and jQuery snippets in place, Meta tags ready for population, Empty mobile and print style sheets, IE-specific classes for simple CSS-targeting, iPhone/iPad/iTouch icon snippets and lots of other keen stuff.

Requirements: -
Demo: http://html5reset.org/
License: BSD License

• 1 Comment

jQuery Collapse is a plugin that delivers an accessible and lightweight solution to a widely adopted interface pattern (known as progressive disclosure). It includes features like cookie persistence, ARIA compliance, and is designed to be flexible and modular enough to be used in many different’t scenarios.

The plugin will gracefully degrade if cookie support is not available. It has been fully tested in IE6+, Firefox3+, Chrome5+, Safari4+, Opera 10+. jQuery-Collapse is designed to be flexible and modular. Options include custom callbacks to satisfy every customization need.

Requirements: jQuery Framework
Demo: http://webcloud.se/code/jQuery-Collapse/
License: MIT, BSD, GPL License

• 0 Comments

LevelDB is a fast key-value storage engine written at Google that provides an ordered mapping from string keys to string values. Google has recently announced that they are open sourcing LevelDB under a BSD-style license.

LevelDB is a C++ library that can be used in many contexts. For example, LevelDB may be used by a web browser to store a cache of recently accessed web pages, or by an operating system to store the list of installed packages and package dependencies, or by an application to store user preference settings.

Requirements: -
Demo: http://code.google.com/p/leveldb/
License: BSD License

• 0 Comments

Sinon.JS is a Standalone test spies, stubs and mocks for JavaScript. No dependencies, works with any unit testing framework. A test spy is a function that records arguments, return value, the value of this and exception thrown (if any) for all its calls.

Test spies are useful to test both callbacks and how certain functions/methods are used throughout the system under test. Use a stub when you want to control a method’s behavior from a test to force the code down a specific path. Mocks are fake methods (like spies) with pre-programmed behavior (like stubs) as well as pre-programmed expectations.

Requirements: -
Demo: http://sinonjs.org/
License: BSD License

• 0 Comments

Leaflet is a modern, lightweight BSD-licensed JavaScript library for making tile-based interactive maps for both desktop and mobile web browsers. It is built from the ground up to work efficiently and smoothly on both platforms, utilizing cutting-edge technologies included in HTML5.

Its top priorities are usability, performance, small size, A-grade browser support, flexibility and easy to use API. The OOP-based code of the library is designed to be modular, extensible and very easy to understand.

Requirements: Javascript Framework
Demo: http://leaflet.cloudmade.com/
License: BSD License

• 0 Comments

Memcached is a a free & open source, high-performance, distributed memory object caching system, generic in nature, but intended for use in speeding up dynamic web applications by alleviating database load.

Memcached is an in-memory key-value store for small chunks of arbitrary data (strings, objects) from results of database calls, API calls, or page rendering. Memcached is simple yet powerful. Its simple design promotes quick deployment, ease of development, and solves many problems facing large data caches.

Requirements: -
Demo: http://memcached.org/
License: New BSD License

• 2 Comments

We have mentioned Vector Based Gesture Icons for Touch Screen Interfaces earlier. Now we have got GestureWorks that ships with a library of over 200 built-in gestures.

Open Source Gesture Library is built upon an open source gesture framework, allowing developers to customize and extend the “gesture object” to create support for new gestures. You can download all free gesture and multitouch illustrations and icons. A variety of formats including scaleable formats are available.

Requirements: -
Demo: http://gestureworks.com/features/open-source-gestures/
License: BSD License

• 0 Comments

The Signature Pad jQuery plugin will transform an HTML form into a signature pad. The Signature Pad has two modes: TypeIt and DrawIt. In TypeIt mode the user’s signature is automatically generated as HTML text, styled with @font-face, from the input field where they type their name. In DrawIt mode the user is able to draw their signature on the canvas element.

The drawn signature is written out to a hidden input field as a JSON array using JSON.strinify(). Since the signature is saved as JSON it can be submitted as part of the form and kept on file. Using the JSON array, the signature can then be regenerated into the canvas element for display. Signature Pad works with both mouse and touch devices.

Requirements: Javascript and Canvas
Demo: http://thomasjbradley.ca/lab/signature-pad
License: New BSD License

• 2 Comments

elRTE is an open-source WYSIWYG HTML-editor written in JavaScript using jQuery UI. It features rich text editing, options for changing its appearance, style and many more. You can use it in any commercial or non-commercial projects. elRTE has been tested in Firefox 3.5+, Internet Explorer 7 & 8, Safari 4, Opera 10 and Chrome.

Requirements: Firefox 3.5+, IE 7 & 8, Safari 4, Opera 10 and Chrome
Demo: http://elrte.org/demo
License: BSD License

• 8 Comments

Polymaps is a display and interaction library for tile-based vector and raster maps using SVG and Javascript. Their intent is to provide a minimal, extensible, customizable, and free display library for discriminating designers and developers who want to use interactive maps in their own projects.

Polymaps provides speedy display of multi-zoom datasets over maps, and supports a variety of visual presentations for tiled vector data, in addition to the usual cartography from OpenStreetMap, CloudMade, Bing, and other providers of image-based web maps

Polymaps can load data at a full range of scales, it’s ideal for showing information from country level on down to states, cities, neighborhoods, and individual streets. Because Polymaps uses SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) to display information, you can use familiar, comfortable CSS rules to define the design of your data. And because Polymaps uses the well known spherical mercator tile format for its imagery and its data, publishing information is a snap.

Requirements: -
Demo: http://polymaps.org/
License: BSD License

• 0 Comments