Open Source Resources for Web Application Developers

The jQuery BlockUI Plugin lets you simulate synchronous behavior when using AJAX, without locking the browser. When activated, it will prevent user activity with the page (or part of the page) until it is deactivated.

BlockUI adds elements to the DOM to give it both the appearance and behavior of blocking user interaction. It is particular useful for creating loading screen for web application. BlockUI is compatible with jQuery v1.2.3 and later.

Requirements: jQuery Framework v1.2.3+
Demo: http://malsup.com/jquery/block/
License: MIT, GPL License

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jQuery Tools is a collection of the most important user-interface components for today’s websites. This single JavaScript file weighs only 5.8 Kb. This library contains some useful JavaScript tools like tabs, tooltips, accordions, overlays, smooth navigation, great visual effects and all those “web 2.0″ goodies that you have seen on your favourite websites.

You don’t need to be a programmer to use these tools. They have lots of Demos you can explore and you can copy their source code to your site and things will work. Each tool is used in a similar manner and by learning one tool you can easily learn the other tools.

And above all, the library is constantly maintained and updated. Expect to see new releases coming out on a regular basis. This library is dual licensed under MIT and GPL 2+ licenses.

Requirements: jQuery Framework
Demo: http://flowplayer.org/tools/demos/index.html
License: MIT, GPL 2+ License

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The Dock is a set of iconic images that expand when rolled over with the cursor, and usually perform some action when clicked. jqDock is a jQuery plugin that mimics that behaviour by transforming a contiguous set of HTML images into an expanding Dock, vertical or horizontal, with or without labels.

Basically, jqDock expands a reduced size image towards its full size when the cursor is on or near it. You can specify a vertical or horizontal orientation for the Dock, and select the direction in which the image should expand and whether to show labels or not. The styling and positioning of the Dock is (almost) entirely down to you.

You should also check out other Fish Eye Menus we mentioned earlier.

Requirements: jQuery Framework
Demo: http://www.wizzud.com/jqDock/
License: MIT, GPL License

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Developer Kevin van Zonneveld was once working on a project with a lot of client(JS) / server(PHP) interaction, and he found himself coding PHP functions (like base64_decode & urldecode) in JavaScript to smoothen communication between the two languages.

He stored the stored the functions in a file called PHP.JS which was included in the project. But even when the project was done, it remained fun trying to port PHP functions to JavaScript, and so the library grew.

Kevin decided to share the little library on his blog, triggering the enthusiasm of a lot of PHP developers longing for PHP functionality in JavaScript. PHP.JS is an open source project in which they try to port PHP functions to JavaScript. By including the PHP.JS library in your own projects, you can use your favorite PHP functions client-side.

Requirements: Javascript Enabled
Demo: http://phpjs.org/
License: MIT and GPL Licenses

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Axiis is an open source data visualization framework designed for beginner and expert developers alike. Axiis gives developers the ability to expressively define their data visualizations through concise and intuitive markup.

Axiis provides both pre-built visualization components as well as abstract layout patterns and rendering classes that allow you to create your own unique visualizations. Axiis was designed to be a granular framework, allowing developers to mix and match components and build complex output by compositing together basic building blocks.

Axiis is an open source project, under an MIT license. This means you can use it for personal projects, commercial work, and pretty much anything you can think of with no restrictions.

Requirements: Degrafa Graphics Framework & Adobe Flex 3
Demo: http://www.axiis.org/examples.html
License: MIT License

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You have probably seen these forms of advertisings where you can peel a corner of a website and see a message underneath. SohTanaka has made a tutorial: Simple Page Peel Effect with jQuery & CSS. All they are doing is expanding the image on hover, then retracting to its default size on hover out.

You may also interested in The Sexy Curls jQuery Plugin if you like this tutorial. The page corner can be set to curl automatically. The plugin is released under the MIT license. That means you can do whatever you like with it.

Requirements: jQuery Framework
Demo: http://www.sohtanaka.com/web-design/examples/peeling-effect/
Demo: http://www.elliottkember.com/sexy_curls.html
License: MIT License

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BySlideMenu is a plugin for Mootools which allow you to easily create a beautiful accordion menu (sliding menu) on any element you want using images and/or text. It works horizontally or vertically. Menu can be pinned or not, by mouseover or click. It’s totally free. You can download it, modify it and use it in any commercial project as long as you respect the license. It’s Open Source!

If you like this plugin, you should take a look at Phatfusion Image Menu as well.

Requirements: Mootools Framework
Demo: http://www.byscripts.info/scripts/javascript-dynamic-accordion-menu
License: MIT License

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Lighter.js is a free syntax highlighting class developed with MooTools. It was created with the MooTools developer in mind and takes advantage of many of the Framework’s features. Using it can be as simple as adding a single script to your webpage, selecting the elements you wish to highlight, and Lighter.js takes care of the rest. Lighter.js has been tested on Safari 2+, Internet Explorer 6+, Firefox 2+ and Opera 9+.

Requirements: MooTools Framework
Demo: http://pradador.com/code/lighterjs/
License: MIT License

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MooTools FileManager allows you to (pre)view, upload and modify files and folders via the browser. You can browse through files and folders on your server easily with Mootools FileManager. The user interface is very intuitive. You can view detailed Previews of Images, Text-Files, Compressed-Files or Audio Content. Also, you can Rename, Delete, Move (Drag&Drop), Copy (Drag + hold CTRL) and Download Files.

MooTools FileManager is integrated with FancyUpload, so that you can upload files directly. As a bonus, you can use it as a FileManager in TinyMCE as well. The Script has been tested in Firefox 3+, Safari 4, Opera and IE6+. It is released under the MIT-License, I am sure you can get a great use out of it.

Requirements: MooTools Framework
Demo: http://og5.net/christoph/Scripts/FileManager/Demos/
License: MIT License

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RestfulX is a framework that brings a clean, REST-inspired approach to Adobe Flex and AIR development and makes integration with RESTful Web Services as simple as possible.

If you want to use Ruby on Rails, Merb, Sinatra, CouchDB or Google App Engine and you want a UI that puts the word Rich into Rich Internet Applications give RestfulX a spin. RestfulX only takes 5 minutes to get started.

Instead of WSDL, SOAP or other complex specifications you’ll find a few common conventions that help you to abstract your application from repetitive CRUD code and switch/synchronize between various data providers with minimal effort.

Requirements: -
Demo: http://restfulx.github.com/
License: MIT License

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