Oracle’s JET JavaScript toolkit flies the open source skies

JET 2.0.0 adds mobile development, data visualization, and scaffolding capabilities.

When it comes to JavaScript, Oracle is not the first name that comes to mind. But the company this week is staking a bigger claim in Web development with the open source release of Oracle JET (JavaScript Extension Toolkit) 2.0.0.

“The aim of Oracle JET is to provide a stable basis for intermediate to advanced JavaScript developers to efficiently visualize data in the cloud,” said Geertjan Wielenga, principal product manager in the Oracle tools group, in a blog post. Oracle has used JET to develop its own cloud applications during the past three years.

The toolkit can make use of third-party JavaScript libraries, including jQuery, jQuery UI, Knockout, RequireJS, and Hammer (JET requires Node.js on the local machine), and it supports enterprise functionality like advanced page navigation, accessibility, and internationalization. Besides changing to an open source license, version 2.0.0 adds a Yeoman generator for scaffolding Web and mobile hybrid applications, as well as the Grunt JavaScript task runner for build and serve tasks for Android, iOS, and Web apps.

For mobile hybrid development, commonly used components like ListView and Pull-to-Refresh are now available. Native headers and footers are offered for Android and iOS, while native themes are enabled for these two platforms and Windows.

To aid with data visualization, JET 2.0.0 adds a Picto chart component to visualize numeric changes via images. Custom marker shapes and images are supported in the Picto chart component and elsewhere. SVG path commands are enabled through existing shape attributes of each component, and charting improvements include the ability to zoom and scroll a chart only in one direction.

A polyfill in version 2.0.0 enables consistent HTML5 drag-and-drop between desktop and mobile browsers; a flexbox-based CSS layout system is offered as well.

Source : http://www.infoworld.com/